At the recently held BritCham Sports Gala Night, Indonesian Rugby struck up a solid new relationship with the British Chamber of Commerce (BritCham) to not only hold future joint fund raising dinners but also a fantastic opportunity to introduce a group of young Indonesian children to great Game of Rugby. The event held at the Grand Kemang Hotel was attended by 200 guests and was headlined by MC Justin ‘Sambo’ Sampson and former England plus British and Irish Lion representative, John ‘Bentos’ Bentley.

Following the event, Chris Wren from BritCham announced, “The combined fundraising value exceeded USD 19,000 – unprecedented and hugely generous. These funds will be put towards organised sporting activities for underprivileged children over the next 12 months under the ‘Giving Kids a Sporting Chance’ community portfolio. We are also proud to announce that we will be working with Persatuan Rugby Union Indonesia (PRUI) in the development of Grassroots Rugby in Indonesia by supporting underprivileged children in the Under 10 category”. For more information on BritCham’s dinner report plus plenty of great photos please click on:http://britcham.or.id/community/entry/bzritchams-sports-gala-night-in-association-with-prui.html

The evening also showcased the wonderful efforts of Indonesian Rugby to introduce the Game to young Indonesian males and females via a couple of video presentations including this one which won the hearts and imagination of those who were present, including some potential major sponsors of the Union: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKhF1I-VE74&list=UUBa8UUG3HYinhRhmo-7Rm2w

During the dinner BritCham also demonstrated their great efforts to introduce a myriad of sports to young Indonesians including rugby, soccer, cricket, Outward Bound activities, basketball and others.

Funds were raised throughout the night through a number of means including raffles, which had a major prize of tickets for two to the IRB Dubai 7’s in December with flights courtesy of Emirates and accommodation at Raffles Hotel Dubai. This fantastic prize was won by Noel Murphy. The big earner on the night was the charity auction which saw sporting memorabilia including a Wallaby jersey signed by George Gregan, Nathan Grey and Matt Cockbain fetch USD 2,300. Probably the most unusual auction item of the night was the Indonesian National Under 20’s Team who were successfully bid on by HSBC for USD 1,800 and the team also received a generous donation of USD 500 from Mark Sims.

The photo above shows Dinner Emcee Justin ‘Sambo’ Sampson, PRUI Sponsorship and Marketing Manager, Steve Barber, Special Guest John ‘Bentos’ Bentley and Britcham Executive Director, Chris Wren.

The evening was a great success, but, as always, could not be possible without the support of fantastic sponsors, including HSBC, Robert Walters, Asiadrill Bara Utama, Britmindo, RBS, Grand Kemang Hotel, The Executive Centre, Emirates, Raffles Hotel, San Miguel and the Aphrodite Group.