Peter Jones, one of the most well-known investor ‘dragons’ on BBC’s Dragon’s Den swapped his horns for a halo at a charity event in Chesham this week – helping to award a share of £100,000 to ten ‘deserving’ local non-profits.
The event was hosted for the first time last year by charitable group The Clare Foundation –established in 2009 by Mike Clare, the founder of bed retailer Dreams – and invited four ‘angels’ with a bit of cash to spare to donate £10,000 each to the local charities that had caught their eye through “innovative ideas, passion and maximum-impact investment strategy”.
The Clare Foundation matched the angels’ contributions and, in this year’s ‘Angel’s Den’ at the Elgiva Theatre on Wednesday, September 11, ten Buckinghamshire-based organisations were dolled out the profits in variable amounts.
The biggest donation went to Chesham-based performing arts group The Theatre Shed, who walked away with £20,000, while Aylesbury-based Youth Concern got £18,000, Marlow’s Brighter Futures Together got £15,000 and the Been There App got £12,000.
The Chilterns Neuro Centre was given £10,000, meanwhile, with Wendover-based Lindengate, Buckingham’s Animal Antiks, the local Age UK branch, Marlow Opportunity Playgroup and Plunkett UK receiving £5,000 each.
Mr Clare said: “Angel’s Den is where innovation meets compassion and each of the charities (involved) was a great example of the impactful and important work done by organisations in Buckinghamshire.
“We were pleased to be able to run our second Angels’ Den and were overwhelmed by the number of entries we received. It was incredibly difficult to decide how to allocate the funds as each of the charities was equally deserving, but The Theatre Shed’s pitch, describing how they bring people of all abilities together, was especially impressive. Well done to all the charities that took part.
“Thanks also go to our Angels – Peter Jones, Sarah Leslie, George Anson and Matt Storey - for their time and generosity.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article