Westminster Venue Collection wows at sensational showcase

Westminster Venue Collection dazzled event buyers at a glittering showcase on Monday evening.

Entitled ‘WowMinster’ the event at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly, offered event planners the chance to meet and network with 36 of London’s finest venues while enjoying a range of mouth-watering delights.

Guests were treated to crispy pork skins with pulled ham hock and honey-roasted pumpkin foam, seeded cracker with carrot hummus and beetroot gel and mini BAFTA shepherd’s pie tartlets. Sweet treats followed the canapés and bowl food with cinnamon doughnuts served with spiced hot chocolate sauce, salted caramel and apricot jam and lime leaf and chocolate fudge brownie with popping candy.

During her welcoming address Rachel Azzopardi, chair of Westminster Venue Collection, said: “Our annual showcase gives time-poor event organisers an opportunity to meet face-to-face with our incredible range of venues. The unique and eclectic mix of the collection means our showcase provides a real insight into the breadth of our offer. From fashionable townhouses and unique private members’ clubs to luxury hotels, celebrated attractions, historic institutes and societies Westminster Venue Collection has it all.”

BAFTA 195 Piccadilly’s David Lean Room was transformed into a splendid backdrop using equipment from Thorns Furniture & Catering Hire. Viva Live Music’s saxophonist provided a sophisticated undertone while some event professionals even had their faces painted by London Facepainters.

As the evening drew to a close, a range of experiences were up for grabs in a prize draw featuring scrumptious afternoon teas and three course meals at various member venues as well as tickets to the Alexandra Palace Fireworks Festival and the Ice Bar.

Ilenia Simonelli, operations and product executive of Sovereign Tourism said: “The event was fabulous. It was very enjoyable, well organised and informative – the food and drinks were also delicious. It was great to learn and discover the different venues in the Westminster area and we very much hope we can use some of them for our groups!”

Church House launches recycling initiative

Church House has found a cost-effective way to reduce its carbon footprint by having all its waste coffee grounds recycled by a bio-bean factory.

During the large number of meetings, training sessions and seminars taking place throughout the year, the venue serves thousands of cups of fresh coffee every week.

What happens to the waste coffee grounds? A specialised treatment process now produces bio-fuel pellets which is then used to power bio-mass boilers.

Recycling waste coffee grounds prevents waste going to landfill and incineration. Every year in the UK 1.8 million tonnes of CO2 emissions are generated by coffee waste disposal. By recycling the coffee waste, the venue is not only improving its environmental credentials but also reducing its carbon output as bio-fuels are carbon neutral and their use displaces fossil fuels.

Church House Westminster is committed to working in a sustainable way and minimising the venue’s impact on the environment. It also holds a silver award for Green Tourism.

IET celebrates women in engineering with an exciting new exhibition

A thought-provoking new exhibition has launched at IET London: Savoy Place showcasing women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

The new exhibit in the Mountbatten Exhibition room celebrates the current winners and finalists of the IET’s Young Woman Engineer of the Year (YWE) Awards, highlighting the breadth of engineering in today’s society.

Guests and delegates to the venue can also see what initiatives the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is working on, including its recent #SmashStereotypesToBits campaign, the Portrait of an Engineer photography series as well as its work to highlight the inspiring career paths and amazing achievements these women engineers have accomplished.

The exhibit in the Watson-Watt room is a retrospective display of women in engineering and their contribution to the field sharing the rich history of women in engineering, celebrating the trail blazers, women on the move and discoveries made by women.

20 Cavendish Square houses NHS blood transfusion center

20 Cavendish Square has offered one of its meeting rooms as a base for donors while the NHS refurbishes its busiest donor centre for blood transfusions.

Every donor plays a vital role in making sure hospital patients get the blood that they need and the vital expansion to the centre will not only improve the donor experience but will enable thousands more donations to be collected.

20 Cavendish Square is just a five-minute walk from the centre located close to Oxford Circus tube station, so offers the perfect location for their temporary home.

RSA House launches Rawthmells coffee house

RSA House has transformed two floors and opened parts of the venue for the first time to launch Rawthmells – a new coffeehouse.

Situated above the Vaults at RSA House and designed to encourage people to connect, share knowledge and build communities to tackle the social challenges, Rawthmells offers a mix of casual and formal seating to enjoy a range of freshly prepared snacks, hot meals and sharing platters by on-site caterers CH&Co.

The space, which is open from 08:30-20:30 on weekdays, offers a great place to socialise pre-or-post event while also being an inspiring co-working space.

RSA House offers a well-equipped events venue in central London for conferences, weddings, Christmas and private celebrations.

The Royal Society hosts senior leadership dinner for The Business of Events

Royal Society hosted an invitation-only dinner for The Business of Events, which was attended by some of Britain’s most senior representatives in the events industry.

Held on 25 October, guests included Michael Ellis MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS); James Heappey MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Events; and other Government Officials along with representatives from the official event partners.

Organised in association with VisitBritain and supported by the UK Events Industry Board and the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Events Industry, the senior leadership dinner is part of the series of independent cross sector events designed to engage, support and promote the UK event industry.

London Transport Museum unveils its brand-new gallery

London Transport Museum’s new Future Engineers gallery is inviting guests and delegates to get hands-on and have fun exploring the fascinating world of transport engineering.

Evening event guests to the exciting new feature can test their skills, solve transport conundrums faced by modern day engineers and enjoy a series of interactive exhibits highlighting the creativity, social value and sheer range of jobs available in engineering.

There’s even an opportunity to ‘drive’ a recreated train cab inspired by an Elizabeth Line AVENTRA 345 train, use control buttons and a computer system to drive through tunnels, pull in to a platform and discover how clever engineering can solve challenging scenarios.

QEII Centre to host charity coat drive

London’s QEII Centre is calling for old, unwanted or unused coats to distribute to charities that support the homeless, the elderly and refugees.

Launching on Monday 12 November, the Wrap Up London campaign, organised by charity Hands On London, brings Londoners together in coat collections across the capital. Now in its eighth year, the coat drive demonstrates the collective community spirit that exists in London when those in need are at their most vulnerable.

More than 300,000 people in Britain are officially recorded as homeless or living in inadequate homes, according to figures released by the charity Shelter. The problem is rife and in London, where one in every 59 people are homeless, the coats will be distributed via homeless shelters, refugee centres, organisations supporting the elderly, women’s refuges, children’s centres and other charities helping people in crisis.

QEII’s collection will run from Monday 12 until Friday 23 November and will be open to members of the public as well as event attendees.

The Wolfson Foundation awards the British Academy £10 million

The British Academy has been awarded the largest ever single grant in the humanities and social sciences by the Wolfson Foundation.

The grant from the independent charity that supports and promote excellence in the fields of science and medicine, the arts and humanities, education and health and disability, will see the British Academy deliver a transformative programme to support early career researchers, develop an international community of scholars and create an intellectual hub at the Academy’s home on Carlton House Terrace in London.

Alongside these initiatives, the British Academy will also undertake a significant enhancement of its facilities at its historic home in Carlton House Terrace – a Nash building previously home to Prime Minister William Gladstone. This will transform existing basement space into an intellectual hub, complete with a 200+ seat auditorium with in-built AV facilities, exhibition and networking space, and a state-of-the-art media suite It will also allow the Academy to expand its events programme, bringing the humanities and social sciences to a wider public audience.