On the evening of Thursday 14th July 2022, we had our first official fundraiser as a registered charity to celebrate the release of our much awaited charity CD album on diversity and inclusion.

We held the event at St Leonards & St Ives Village Hall (annexe) on Braeside Road in St Leonards, East Dorset. There were drinks and refreshments on arrival and the CD was played for the first time in full.

Bruce Gridley, a professional DJ came and put on some musical entertainment for us and even delighted us with a musical quiz half way through. Rashida Furber came to support us from Barclays bank and some of the musicians involved in the production of the CD were also present: Steve Leigh, Simon Frankland and of course Erika Petrie. Mike Hardy from Hospital Radio Bedside and Radio Wimborne also attended the event and helped to add stock to our plentiful bottle tombola.

Manuela Curtis (treasurer) and Jo Criscenti (secretary) also came to help out and Manuela delighted us with a very special large Victoria sponge cake to celebrate Shades of Different. Sonia Venoux was also a valuable helper at the beginning of the evening helping to set up the room and organise our bountiful raffle, at which we had a variety of marvelous prizes.

All in all it was a memorable evening to help kick start our fundraising efforts and the much awaited CD has now also been launched and can be streamed online using the attached link:

https://shadesofdifferent.bandcamp.com/

If you would prefer a physical copy of the CD you can obtain one by contacting Erika Petrie direct ([email protected])

Many thanks to everyone involved in our first ever fundraiser and here’s to many more…let’s raise a glass to Shades of Different!

Erika & Mike