£500k raised at Marina Dalglish Appeal annual charity ball

Marina, Lady Dalglish was ‘delighted’ after her annual charity ball raised in the region of £500,000 for her Merseyside based cancer charity.

The money raised will go directly towards the Marina Dalglish Appeal’s pledge to donate £1.2million to fund a state-of-the-art surgical robot for Broadgreen Hospital which they hope to be in operation this Spring.

All photos provided by Diane Thompson at Couturefoto.

The Indian-themed MDA Ball returned to Knowsley Hall where guests were greeted by Dhol drummers before being entertained for the evening by the incredible Swan Band who flew in from Geneva for the event.

The Fenn Family

Sir Kenny, who was knighted this year by the Queen in recognition for his services to the City of Liverpool and to Charity said: “Marina and I are always blown away by the magnificent generosity and commitment of our supporters who continue to donate both time and money to “The Charity”.

“We would like to thank every single person who helped to make this year’s Ball a great success. Some people have commented that it was the ‘best ever’ and we are very proud of our daughter, Lauren, who pulled everything together. The pressure is on for her to top it again next year!”

After being welcomed by Sir Kenny, 350 guests were treated to a delicious Indian three-course meal prepared by Knowsley’s Head Chef, Paul Macnish, followed by Chip Shop Curry Naans at midnight, before guests partied in to the wee hours.

Sir Kenny

MC and Auctioneer Jonny Gould raised close to £350,000 from the auction prizes which included playing golf with Sir Kenny at The British Masters Pro-Am, a meet and greet with Olly Murs and unique experiences from Liverpool FC. The incredible Raffle prizes were generously donated by companies including Vincentius Bespoke, Selfridges, and Givenchy Beauty.

The first prize, a £6,000 voucher, was again donated by long-time MDA supporters Boodles, and the lucky winner has an invitation to choose their favourite piece of jewellery while enjoying a glass of champagne in Boodles’ Liverpool store.

The Sproson Family

Fundraising was carried out on behalf of the MDA by Marina’s former breast cancer nurse, Donna Murray, who was supported by former patients and staff from The Marina Dalglish Centre who kindly volunteered their time to support the charity.

Lynsey & Lauren Dalglish

The Marina Dalglish Appeal hopes to have a urological robot in place at Broadgreen Hospital before the spring, enabling surgeons to tackle previously inoperable prostate, bladder, and kidney tumours. “The Charity” (as the Dalglish family affectionately call it) continues to provide invaluable emotional support to women on Merseyside through their breast cancer support centre, Larks, which opened in 2016.