Great Gatsby themed event leads to cash boost for charity
A group of students recently brought a night of glitz and glamour to Glasgow, raising thousands of pounds for charity in the process.
Isla Forrester, Morgan Carmichael, Eve Robertson, Enrico Petrucci, Louis Taylor and Ryan Mclagan teamed up as part of GCU’s Festival for the Common Good, which saw second year students in the Glasgow School for Business and Society (GSBS) create and deliver 21 events over the course of 10 days in April.
The students involved worked alongside staff and local businesses to help raise money for a chosen charity and the GCU Foundation.
Isla said: “One of our group members, Enrico, had hosted casino nights before, but we wanted to do something a bit different. We wanted this to be a rare event that would draw people in, and we thought what better way to do that than with a Gatsby theme.
“It gave people the chance to dress up but also wasn’t so obscure that people would feel like they had to go out and buy a whole new outfit for it. We even made props available to guests through buying them second-hand. We wanted to keep it fun without costing our guests lots of money to attend.”
She added: “We chose the Beatson as our charity partner. Even those of us who haven’t been directly affected by cancer know people who have went through a difficult time with it. The work they do is incredible and we just wanted to give something back.”
A grand total of 170 guests attended the event, which was held at the Grosvenor Casino Riverboat on Wednesday, 12th of April.
Isla said: “We were a bit apprehensive at the start and weren’t really sure how many people would come, but advertising on Facebook and Instagram really helped us. We were originally hoping for 100 people there, so to get to 170 was just incredible – we were absolutely shocked!”
Those who attended on the night were transported back to 1920s New York thanks to the variety of games and activities on offer.
“We had blackjack and roulette tournaments downstairs. We also had our raffle and silent auction. There was a ring toss game which was a massive hit with our guests: we basically had a selection of bottles all wrapped up and everyone threw rings at the bottle - if it landed you got to take it home. It raised a lot of money and we all had a lot of fun doing it!
“We also had a saxophone player there which added something different to the event and was a nice way to welcome everyone into the venue.”
Isla added: “I think all of us involved in organising it were running about like headless chickens before everything started! There were some things that didn’t quite go perfectly to plan, but that’s what happens with every event. Overall, it was just a brilliant night."
After helping raise an incredible total of £3631, Isla admits she now feels more confident as a second year International Tourism and Events Management student.
“It was such a good idea to have the Festival for the Common Good in place. It was daunting doing something like this for the first time, but having that experience under our belt as a group means that we can move forward in our career knowing we have previously planned a successful event.
“It has definitely given me extra confidence and made me very excited for future events and opportunities.”
By Ross Clark
Got an SHLS or GSBS story? Email me at Ross.Clark@gcu.ac.uk or message me on Twitter