2010 ICAP Charity Day

Every year, ICAP, the world’s largest inter-dealer broker, chooses a day on which it gives away all its revenues and commissions to charity.  This means that on that day the brokers, in all the ICAP offices around the world, forego their commissions to help charities.  To date, over US$138 million has been raised in this way and ICAP’s Annual Charity Day is now the single biggest fund-raising event in the City of London. To encourage the brokers, celebrities are invited to come to the trading room and maybe close a few deals with the help of a broker, many of whom dress up in fancy clothes to add to the fun of the day. Last year, PACT had the very good fortune to be chosen by ICAP as one of this year’s beneficiaries.

Pictured: Julian (Lord) Fellowes, one of PACT's celebrity guest

PACT marked this day in a very special way

PACT marked International Missing Children's Day 2010 with a "balloon launch" like no other!  Balloons are the official symbols of International Missing Children's Day.  Countries around the world have released balloons for years on this day to commemorate all the children who are still missing and to celebrate those who have been safely returned home. PACT had a very different idea in mind; Evan Cheng, head illustrator for Sesame Street, designed a balloon card for PACT to send to celebrities worldwide to use as an inspirational canvas. This unique collection of celebrity artwork were exhibited and sold at a reception hosted by Ralph Lauren.  Designs by Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Pattinson, Sir Roger Moore, Ronald Searle, Hugh Grant, Raymond Bland and many others are available in our collector’s coffee table book. 

Pictured: Nick Park's ballon design

2006 Victims of Another War

The first public screening in the UK of the PACT documentary, Victims of Another War, took place before an invited audience at the Lewis Media Centre on May 15 in London. This powerful and acclaimed documentary tells the stories of three people, who were forcibly separated from one parent by the other when they were children.

Filmed by Professor Glenn Gebhard of Marymount University in California, and narrated by the distinguished British actor, Michael York, Victims of Another War is an unsparing exposure of the scars left on three adults by the trauma of parental child abduction.

The screening was followed by a lively debate, in which two of those featured in the film, Cecilia Finkelstein and Thomas Ryan, took part.

Pictured left to right:
Thomas Ryan, Cecilia Finkelstein, Lady Meyer and Professor Glenn Gebhard

2005 Launch of Every Five Minutes

The launch of PACT’s first ever public report, Every Five Minutes, took place in London on October 31. Over a year in preparation and research, the report examines in detail the data currently available in the UK on missing children. It draws the disturbing conclusion that the statistics are so defective that we have no clear idea how many children go missing each year; why they do so; and what should be done to remedy this scandalous situation.

The launch was extremely well attended and we were particularly happy to see so many police officers from various forces come to it. The reception was followed by a fund raising dinner at which, our Patron, Cherie Blair highlighted the need for better data collection and praised PACT’s work.

Pictured left to right:
Lady Meyer with Cherie Blair at Vintners Hall

2004 Ball

PACT’s fourth Ball was held at the Dorchester Hotel, London on 7 October 2004. Our Patron, Cherie Blair, gave a rousing speech to a 350-strong audience. Many of our long-term supporters attended the Ball, including Sarah, The Duchess of York; Michael and Pat York; Sir Tim Rice; and William Yeoward. The ball was a terrific success.

Pictured left to right:
Cherie Blair, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Lady Meyer and Sarah, Duchess of York.

2003 Ball

PACT held its third Ball at the Dorchester Hotel, London on 12 May 2003. It was another great success in spite of a security threat that meant that the Prime Minister’s wife was forced to cancel at the last minute. Sarah, The Duchess of York, stood in for Mrs. Blair and delivered a wonderful speech. Thanks to the generosity of BP plc, who underwrote the whole event, all the proceeds from the evening directly benefited PACT.

Pictured left to right:
Lady Meyer with Sarah, Duchess of York at our 2003 Ball.

2001 Ball

PACT held its second Ball at the Dorchester Hotel, London on 10 October 2001. It was a great success. The guest speaker at the event, was our Patron, Cherie Blair, wife of the British Prime Minister. Thanks to the generosity of BP plc, who underwrote the whole evening, PACT was able to raise just over £90,000.

Pictured left to right:
Mrs. John Gore; Mr. John Gore, Group Vice President of BP plc, sponsors of the Ball; HE Sir Christopher Meyer, British Ambassador to the USA; Cherie Blair, our Patron; The Hon. William Farish, US Ambassador to the Court of St James and Lady Meyer.

Inaugural Ball

PACT's first Ball was held at the Savoy Hotel, London on 5 October 2000. At that time we were still called ICMEC/Europe. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas joined our Patron, Cherie Blair, to pledge their support to the cause of missing and abducted children. More than 400 people attended the evening.

Pictured left to right:
Lady Meyer, our founder, with Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta Jones and Cherie Blair,our Patron.