Led by Katie Christie and Annie Newell, the WFN Friends Committee organised their first ticketed event on 31st January 2012 at the Royal Geographical Society, with a talk by Alastair Fothergill, Executive Producer of the BBC’s Frozen Planet. The event, which raised money in aid of Whitley Fund for Nature, was a huge success and tickets sold out within days of going on sale.
WFN Founder, Edward Whitley, opened the evening by introducing the work of the charity and its winners, including 2010 Whitley Award winner, Pablo Borboroglu, who works to conserve endangered penguins across the Southern Hemisphere. Since winning his Award, Pablo has established the world’s first coalition for penguin conservation, and is now conducting research to promote the designation of a new Marine Protected Area in Patagonia. Alastair then began his fascinating lecture on the making of the epic Frozen Planet series. The presentation featured clips of the series’ most awe inspiring moments, with behind the scenes footage demonstrating the huge amount of time, effort and skill that goes into the making of these ground-breaking films.
On the night, we were joined by many of our Friends and major donors as well as our first ever Whitley Award winner, Amanda Vincent. After the lecture, Alastair joined guests for a drinks reception where he signed copies of his Frozen Planet book and answered the many questions put to him by fans of the series.
Many thanks also go to the artist, Tanya Brett, who’s wonderful display of polar themed paintings and sculptures proved hugely popular. One of her works – a large hand- crafted polar bear – was generously donated as the first prize in the evening’s raffle. In total, the event raised over £13,000 which will go towards supporting the work of charity and our winners. Thank you to all of you who helped make this possible.