The automotive charity Ben hosted its annual Ben Ball this month at the Grosvenor House London, raising over £203,000, with this figure expected to rise.

This year’s event featured a full evening of entertainment, including a performance from STOMP, a show-stopping production of Journey Through the Musicals and music by Supernova.  The funds raised will help Ben continue its work in supporting people with their financial, physical, social and mental health and wellbeing.

Daksh Gupta, CEO of Marshall Motor Group who raised a remarkable £151,000 for Ben in this year’s Industry Leader Challenge (ILC) skydive, handed the baton for ILC 2017 to Jeremy Hicks, MD of Jaguar Land Rover UK. Jeremy, hopes to outstrip Daksh’s £151,000 in the ‘Jaguar Land Rover Channel Swim Challenge’ next summer. Jeremy will be swimming the English Channel, along with 11 of his Jaguar Land Rover colleagues in a two team relay in August 2017. 

Jeremy said: “I am challenging myself, my team and also the industry to get behind our own dedicated industry charity. Without the vital support from the industry Ben couldn’t continue to provide the much-needed services to our colleagues. It’s easy to take our health for granted, so this challenge will raise awareness of the importance of maintaining a good level of physical fitness – whatever our age! I need the support of everyone working in the automotive community to help us smash the £151,000 raised by Daksh. That’s my challenge, so please, get behind me – let’s make it count.”

The evening also featured an auction for a variety of fantastic items. The star prize of the night was the special edition Jaguar 3.0 litre V6 380PS Supercharged F-PACE S, which raised £102,500.

Zara Ross, Ben’s Chief Executive, said: “The Ben Ball is our most important event of the year as it highlights the role Ben plays and raises essential income for us to continue supporting our automotive colleagues. The event has helped us to further demonstrate that we’re here for the people working in the industry and that we partner with companies to help them promote an energised and healthy workforce.”