Celebs reach out to street kids

Over 500 people from the worlds of fashion, music, sport and art gathered in London last week to collect thousands of pounds for street children from around the world including those from India.

Organised by The Consortium for Street Children (CSC), a collection of 58 charities including Amnesty and World Vision, the Grafitti Ball enlisted the support of both English and Asian celebrities. The CSC is the only global network promoting and protecting the rights of street children across the world.

The CSC has been working collectively with charity organisations across 89 countries to create awareness in promoting the rights, development and protection of street children worldwide; embracing a common vision in creating a world where children have a voice, where children have a choice, and are protected from abuse and neglect.

Hosted by Surina Narula MBE (Co Chair for CSC) and Max Mongia (Trustee for CSC), The Grafitti Ball was a huge success in helping to raise the much needed profile of street children across the globe. “It is a travesty that the numbers of innocent children continue to work helplessly on the streets. The injustices and hardships that they face go beyond belief and, rather than receiving the aid and support they need, they are subjected to lives of social rejection and deemed as deviants,” said Narula, a businesswoman and social activist.

“The global community typically refers to “street children” as residing in developing countries and forgets that developed countries such as the UK mask the growing problem, choosing to ignore it instead of addressing it,” she added. Six international design houses, including Rina Dhaka, Ritu Beri, Sonu Nilibar, Antonio Lucci, fashion label “OO” by Anoosh and Aftershock, showcased new lines against the Graffiti inspired backdrop. The outfits, including one modelled by actor Ferena Wazier, were then auctioned on the evening raising a substantial sum.

Guests were invited by Christie’s auctioneer Samir Sharma to bid for unique items including private ballroom dancing lessons with Karen Hardy of BBC’s extremely popular Strictly Come Dancing, a day of golf with cricketer and heart-throb Mark Ramprakash and dinner for four with Sir Ian Botham OBE. Amidst explosive urban stunts, comperes for the evening, TV and radio presenter Nikki Bedi and side splitting comedian Richard Blackwood, kept the guests entertained.