On June 24th, 200 people gathered in the Atrium at Coutts to listen to six well-known presenters make their case for a charitable project each is personally involved with. It was a spectacular evening raising £130,657.

We piloted the use of paddles, which people used to call out their bid during the pledging session - it was a room filled with generosity and almost effortlessly, each project received far more than they had pitched for, with one project raising just over £40,000.

• The New Horizon Youth Centre: The New Horizon Youth Centre is a day centre working to ensure that every vulnerable young person finds a home and the necessary tools to progress in their lives. The project, which managed to raise £40,783, will now be able to provide one to one coaching and group sessions every week for four hours, enabling those at a very basic level to develop their literacy and numeracy skills to a standard that will build on their confidence and self esteem and equip them to make a positive contribution to society. www.nhyouthcentre.org.uk

• Friends United Network: Friends United Network raised £28,777 to pay fully trained volunteers who will provide well over 10,000 hours of unpaid volunteering time during the minimum 2 year befriending commitment they will be making - making a lifelong difference to the children they befriend. www.friendsunitednetwork.org.uk

• Sponsored Arts for Education: SAFE raised £20,556 towards funding a year's Touring Costs beginning in September 2008. This would deliver performances to over 60,000 people, with a high priority placed on sex education in schools. SAFE GHETTO will develop and deliver workshops specifically aimed at school-leavers, allowing students the opportunity to ask difficult questions with regard to their sexual health and leave school equipped with the knowledge of how to have sex safely and what risks are involved. www.sponsoredarts.org

• Environmental Justice Foundation: The project raised £11,777 which will help to cover the costs of filming, post production and distribution of a film which aims to directly reduce the impact of illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, known as "pirate fishing", improving the lives of poor coastal fishing communities and protecting fish stocks and fragile marine environments. The grant will also go towards research, design and publication of the print report and the logistical organisation of the key events series. Central to these activities will be the development of a high-impact media campaign to draw attention, concern and action to the problem. Finally the budget will also include elements of a training programme in Sierra Leone to help local communities document the problem for themselves and develop local advocacy campaigns. www.ejfoundation.org

• The Orpheus Centre: The Orpheus Centre, that provides opportunities for young disabled adults to promote personal development through performing arts, raised £14,967. The grant will allow them to introduce five high profile artists into the Orpheus Centre as part of their new educational project Progress Through Performance Partnerships (PPP). This is a pilot project, which the centre is hoping to launch in September. It will introduce external role models, who will act as associate artists to work with the apprentices on a series of educational arts projects. www.orpheus.org.uk

• Treehouse: The aim of this project is to ensure that Treehouse pupils will benefit from new technology to greatly improve their communication at school, at home and in the community. Treehouse received a grant of £13,795 from TFN, to purchase communication aids and resources, which will greatly enhance the lives of children living with autism and their families. www.treehouse.org.uk