Dancing on Ice stars Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean will be guests of honour at a special 50th anniversary lunch event for the Mary Peters Trust taking place at Belfast’s Europa Hotel on Friday 21st November.
The 1984 Winter Olympic Gold medallists have been friends of Lady Mary and her Trust for many years and have supported the Trust previously by attending Athlete Academies and fundraising events in Northern Ireland.
Like the Mary Peters Trust, the duo’s famous ice dancing partnership began 50 years ago, and they went on to claim British, European and World titles in addition to their Olympic successes.
The Dancing on Ice judges are best known for iconic routines including Bolero, Barnum, Mack & Mabel and Let’s Face the Music and Dance. They completed a UK wide tour, Our Last Dance during April and May this year, including a sold-out Belfast date. An upcoming ITV commissioned documentary based on their final tour and looking back on their professional highlights is set to air later in 2025.
The Mary Peters Trust gala lunch event ‘lifts’ off at 12noon with a ‘Meet our next Sporting Heroes’ drinks reception, followed by lunch and a series of ‘chat show’ style interviews with young sports men and women who have all benefitted from Mary Peters Trust funding bursaries ahead of their sporting successes.
“We’ll also look forward to next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the 2028 LA Olympics and pay tribute to the incredible achievements of local athletes across five decades since the Trust’s inception in 1975,” explains Lady Mary Peters.
On the auction agenda are a range of ‘money can’t buy’ prizes including signed guitars donated by Sir Van Morrison and Ed Sheeran and unique artworks by Lisburn’s Neil Shawcross, a signed portrait of Mary by Co Down artist Brian John Spencer and a floral watercolour by James Bond actress Jane Seymour.
Other items listed as part of the auction catalogue are; a beautifully presented wedding cake ensemble presented to Mary following the wedding of William and Catherine, Prince and Princess of Wales in 2011; a Motor Neurone Disease Association shirt signed by rugby legend Kevin Sinfield; a pair of boxing gloves signed by Lewis Crocker, Carl Frampton and Paddy Donovan; a signed Ireland rugby shirt and a coveted Royal Portrush round of golf for three people.
A Waterman House voucher and a signed Niall McKenna cookbook is also up for auction as well as a £500 bottle of Millennium Bushmills whiskey, Ulster Rugby match tickets and a Family- of-4 set of tickets for the Affidea Stadium Family Stand.
For more information or to book a table contact events@asgcomms.com.
Tickets cost £120 plus vat per person/£1200 plus vat per table of 10.