By Martin Walker
A bunch of girls dubbed the Banana Army have announced their fundraising plans for the year – with a Mardi Gras Masquerade Ball being the headline event in September.
The Banana Army, all from Newton Aycliffe, raised thousands of pounds last year, running a string of wacky stunts including a three-hour Zumbathon and an eye-catching calendar.
Following the success of the 2011 Forget Me Not Ball, the group are following it up with the ‘Mardi Gras Masquerade Ball 2012’.
Other fundraising events include Beefy’s Great British Walk with Ian Botham in April, the Mini, Junior & Great North Runs in September.
The Mardi Gras Masquerade Ball will follow on September 28, at Hardwick Hall Hotel – and tickets for the ball go on sale from March.
“We have had several enquiries from companies who are interested in being the main corporate sponsor for the Ball,” said organiser Karen Everson.
“Of course as well as helping us to raise vital funds for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, it will also provide extensive PR coverage and many business generating benefits to our lucky sponsor.
“As a dynamic business we are now collating information on those parties who may be interested in this one-company only, £500 package.”.
The package includes:
■ Full marketing proposition – use of your company logo on all printed materials such as table plan, table numbers and event programme at the Ball.
■ Exterior advertising – Forget Me Not Ball presents ‘Mardi Gras Masquerade’ sponsored by …………… (this format shall be used for all press releases in local press/radio/web advertising).
■ Website – Your company sponsorship shall be featured on the bananaarmy2011.co.uk website & facebook pages.
■ FB feeds – monthly sponsorship feed and company tagging from Banana Army 2011 & Masquerade Ball page (beginning in March).
■ E-tickets – These will go on sale in March, including your company logo and if possible we shall include further company information.
■ E-mail database – through the sale of e-tickets, we can then use the email database for further advertising and event feeds leading up to September.
■ Including 2 complimentary tickets for the Masquerade Ball
If this is of interest to you, applications via email are open until 5.30pm on Monday 20th February.
They can be emailed to: [email protected]