Court circuit – Embassy 32

The High Commissioner for St Lucia Mr Eldridge Stephens, YDL President Marwan Francis and Patrick Doyle of IDS, a sponsor of the Black & White Ball

Black & White Ball
It was like the golden age of Hollywood glamour as London’s young diplomats arrived in elegant black and white for this year’s YDL Black & White Ball. After champagne cocktails, guests enjoyed a leisurely five-course dinner to the sounds of jazz before listening to a an awe-inspiring performance of Puccini’s Nessun Dorma by tenor Hansil Jules, who has toured in 100 different locations and will be singing in a concert for peace in Darfur on 11 November 2011. There were plenty of prizes on offer, from wine, courtesy of sponsors IDS, rum from the Trinidad & Tobago and St Lucia, a BMW motorsports day donated by BMW Westminster and a lunch at the House of Lords with Paul Boateng – not to mention two nights at the Churchill Hotel and trips to Italy, Jordan and The Bahamas. But perhaps the best prize of all was knowing that the £1000 raised would buy six goats and a donkey for 15 families in Darfur, providing them with milk, transport and a livelihood. The money will also provide water hand pumps to three villages, so that children can go to school instead of trekking for seven hours in the blistering heat to get water for their families

PHOTOS: PIERRE DE VILLIERS

High Commissioner Turay greets the Ambassador of Kuwait and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps Mr Khaled Al Duwaisan

YDL President Marwan Francis with the Ambassador of Kuwait and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps Mr Khaled Al Duwaisan