(l-r) HRH Princess Alexandra  with Jo Honigmann, CPotential CEO, and Councillor Robert Rigby, son of Peter Rigby CBE, founder of the charity.

We were delighted and honoured to hold a special Reception in the presence of our Royal Patron, HRH Princess Alexandra, at St James’s Palace recently.

Some of our generous donors and supporters joined with our trustees and staff to celebrate the work we do and learn about our development plans.

Princess Alexandra has been our Royal Patron since 1997.

They came, they giggled, they gave.

Some 150 guests raised over £68,000 at the first-ever CPotential Giggle and Give Gala Dinner to support our life-changing work with children.

The glamorous event, held at the Bloomsbury Ballroom on 29th November, featured a world class comedy line up: king of puns Tim Vine (above with lolly), Adam Hills, host of Channel 4’s ‘The Last Leg’ and the fabulous Rosie Jones and Alistair Barrie.

Jo Honigmann, our CEO, said: “We were thrilled that these top comedians gave their time and talents to make us all laugh and to help us raise much needed funds for the children and families we support.”

All proceeds from the event will go towards the work we do to help disabled children gain invaluable life skills and confidence so they can achieve their potential now and in the future.

“Push on through – do what you believe in.”

These inspirational words from our guest speaker Sophie Christiansen CBE (pictured above with our CEO Jo Honigmann) sum up the theme of our Constellation ‘Reach for the Stars’ evening on Monday 3 July.

We were delighted to welcome Sophie to give the keynote presentation at the event, which we held in the beautiful and historic Mercers’ Hall in the City of London.

Born with quadriplegic cerebral palsy, Sophie has excelled in international Para Dressage, winning no less than eight Paralympic Gold medals at the Games in Beijing, London and Rio de Janeiro.

She told us how she took up riding and how she’s overcome challenges along the way through a combination of grit and good humour. She talked about the importance of cultivating potential – something we strongly believe in at CPotential.

And she’s a great role model for what can be achieved, as she said: “Don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone. Then you’ll be able to make your zone bigger and bigger and do things that you weren’t even able to imagine at the start. There will still be difficult days, but it’s about how you overcome them that counts.”

We also unveiled a short video explaining more about Conductive Education. It features Kinga, one of our Conductors, using the rhythm of songs, sensory activities and gentle exercises to help some of our youngest children develop their mobility and confidence.

Thank you to everyone who came and helped us raise over £4,500 for our Conductive Education services.

Photos courtesy of Helen Rayner.