On the 13th November 2021 we held a “Peaky Blinders Charity Shindig” at the Doubletree By Hilton in Sheffield . We arranged for a Vintage car www.cottamcarriages.co.uk (provided free of charge) to be available on arrival so that the guests could have their photographs taken by www.ouiouiphotography.co.uk who kindly donated their time and the images.

As the guests arrived, they enjoyed a glass of fizz as they admired each other’s costumes, this was followed by a delicious 3 course meal. Our DJ entertained us whilst the band “The Buddies” got ready for their first set, not quite 1940’s music but so much better to dance to!

We had casino tables with “funny money”, the person with the most money at the end of the night won a bag of booze for Christmas. We also had a raffle and played heads and tails, again big bags of booze for the winners.

To date we have raised a whopping £4,235 with a further £500 coming from HSBC.

It was a leap of faith planning this event around Covid! The hotel was very helpful and assured me that I would get a refund if numbers became restricted or the event had to be cancelled. I asked everyone to do a lateral flow test before the event and although there were 203 guests plus the hotel staff there have been no reports of infection, phew! It was wonderful to get together and let our hair down all in the name of charity, the money raised has been divided between Women V Cancer, in memory of Claire Crabb, Cry, for their wonderful work and The Captain Tom Foundation, as he inspired a nation when we needed some.

Sarah Coakley