Church House Westminster unveils Justice for Lai Dai Han statue

Church House Westminster welcomed Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Nadia Murad, among other distinguished guests at a reception for ‘Justice for Lai Dai Han’, organised by Dods Events.

The event took place in the venue’s Harvey Goodwin Suite on 11 June 2019 and culminated in the unveiling of a statue to honour all victims of sexual violence.

The “Mother and Child” statue, designed by Rebecca Hawkins, will serve as a beacon of hope to all victims of sexual violence around the world. It depicts a mother and child with different roots trapped by a Strangler Fig tree, a plant native to Vietnam, with branches wrapping around them.

The event, which was to raise awareness of the widespread nature of sexual violence in global conflicts, was attended by the chair of the Vietnam All Party Parliamentary Group, Wayne David MP and co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne.

The evening included personal speeches from victims of sexual violence in conflict, as well as campaigners, bringing together all those concerned into a discussion about the fight to end sexual violence in conflict.

Sculpture artist Rebecca Hawkins said: “I hope that this statue helps raise awareness for this important campaign and gives the women and children the justice and closure that they need. Being part of this campaign and meeting these brave and courageous women has been the honour of a lifetime and I urge everyone to hear their story.”

During her speech, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Nadia Murad, said: “Today’s event helps to bring awareness to the plight of the Vietnamese victims of sexual violence as they seek recognition and justice. I am proud to stand up for all victims of sexual violence around the world.”

Find out more about the types of events that are held at Church House Westminster, here.

Christmas at The National Gallery

Look no further than The National Gallery this year for a show-stopping Christmas party.

The world-famous landmark overlooks the iconic Trafalgar Square Christmas tree; a truly festive setting in Central London. From 20 or 200 guests, the National Gallery is the perfect festive venue for a drinks reception, dinner party and dancing the night away until 2am.

Get the party started on the Portico terrace with some eggnog cocktails, where guests can marvel at the public festivities below. Once led inside, they’ll get that hairs-on-end feeling from carol singing on the candle-lit stairs of the Mosaic Terrace. Before dinner begins, art experts will be on hand to inspire with masterpieces that tell the Nativity story over the centuries. What’s more festive than dining among glistening gold frames and paintings of ethereal angels and starlit skies?

Talk to The National Gallery events team directly about Christmas party packages for 2019 on, 0207 747 5931 or [email protected].

116 Pall Mall plays host to series of yoga classes

116 Pall Mall is stepping away from its historic roots and living up to its versatile reputation by hosting a series of yoga classes throughout July.

Taking place in The Waterloo Room and The Burton Room, yoga company And Happenings Yoga has hired 116 Pall Mall to launch a series of classes, with the next class on Monday 8 July.

Nicola Easom, head of business development, said: “We love taking on events like this. You would never associate a historic building like ours with running yoga classes, but our spectacular rooms and features provide an unusual backdrop that companies like these are looking for, to set their events apart from the competition.

“We’re also big advocates of supporting small businesses and start-ups like this and we’re expecting these classes to extend into September and October.”

Book a revitalising yoga class at 116 Pall Mall here.

Healthy eating at Lincoln’s Inn

Lincoln’s Inn has added a contemporary new space to its portfolio of venues with its brand-new Ashworth Centre, available for bookings from 1 November 2019.

To coincide with the revelation of the bright, inspiring centre, delegates can choose from a healthy breakfast or snack as part of a new meetings menu. Among the options are a banana, date and coconut protein bar, or a coconut, yoghurt and redberry compote with a granola crunch. Guests will see healthy options for their meetings without taste or quality being compromised. Having worked to optimise concentration and healthy brain power, the team of chefs have tried an amalgamation of ingredients with naturally occurring sugars from fruits that boost energy without relying on artificially enhanced flavourings.

Enquire about healthy packages at Lincoln’s Inn by contacting the team on, 020 7405 5969 or [email protected].

110 Rochester Row embraces sustainability

Sustainability is not so much a trend but it’s becoming a way of life at 110 Rochester Row and the venue is always trying to find new ways to be more environmentally friendly.

As part of the zero to landfill movement, 110 Rochester Row aim to source biodegradable products, where possible. Strengthening its green credentials, the venue also works with Eden caterers, who are renowned for best working practises in sustainability and sourcing eco-friendly produce.

With more and more companies being aware of the effect their business carbon footprint has on the world, the more businesses are changing how they operate and how they select the suppliers for their operational needs.

110 Rochester Row understands that this means working hard to operate efficiently and commit to sustainable business practices, while offering clients environmentally friendly options.

For more information on 110 Rochester Row’s event spaces, visit www.venues-london.co.uk/venues/110-rochester-row/.

IET London: Savoy Place announces summer investment projects

IET London: Savoy Place’s Riverside Room will begin an £280k upgrade to further enhance the room’s state-of-the-art AV and event offering, in July 2019.

The project will see the installation of two 4k video walls and two 4k LED screens, allowing the room to be used in full landscape format, giving every delegate full visibility.

New cameras will allow speakers or presenters to be filmed from any angle, and live relayed onto all screens in the room. New cutting-edge video mapping software will also be used to compose and manage multiple content across the screens. Meanwhile, enhancements to the audio system will allow for multiple mapping of the sound to different zones within the building, including the roof terrace.

Sean Spencer, Head of IET Venues said: “We’re constantly re-evaluating, upgrading and staying ahead of the game and the significant investment we have secured for this summer is another example of how we are future proofing our venues for our guests.

“We really want to give everyone who uses the venue the best possible experience when attending events and conferences with us. In addition to the AV upgrades, we have also developed new dining and conferencing packages to showcase the investments and further enhance our event offering.”

The Riverside Room at Savoy Place will be open for events from September 2019. Find out more and view new packages here, or learn more about the venue here.

Swing into summer at QEII’s annual soirée

You’re invited!

Wednesday 3 July   6:30pm-9pm

QEII Centre is delighted to invite you to ‘Birdie Island’ for an evening of mini golf, live music, sumptuous cocktails and delicious canapés to celebrate the summer season!

Against the spectacular backdrop of Westminster Abbey, see QEII Centre with its summer glow, find out more about this contemporary Westminster venue, and meet its friendly faces.

Slip on your golf visor, get practising your swing and join us at the central Westminster venue for all the fun, on Wednesday 3 July.

Bring your teams along for some friendly mini golf competition and be in the with the chance of winning some great prizes, too.

To RSVP, please click here.

Lumiére London – The Embassy joins Westminster Venue Collection

Westminster Venue Collection is delighted to welcome Lumiére London – The Embassy, to its marketing consortium, bringing its member total to 37.

Running along the western edge of Buckingham Palace Gardens, The Embassy is Lumiére London’s latest venue on the prestigious Grosvenor Place in Belgravia. Its rich history, dating back to the 18th century, gives the collection of event spaces an obvious personality with a refreshingly contemporary burst of colour and choice of designer furnishings.

With exceptional attention to detail, the spacious ground floor has been lovingly reverted to its original décor with high ceilings, sparkling chandeliers and hand painted walls and mouldings.

The space lends itself to intimate events for up to 75 guests, hosting dinners, meetings, exhibitions, conferences and small weddings. The Embassy’s state-of-the-art AV equipment and high-tech sound system ensures events held at the venue are offered a level of superior quality that is mirrored throughout all its services.

Find out more about Lumiére London here.

Discover Westminster’s stellar scientific venues

Humankind first stepped foot on the Earth’s Moon in 1969 and Saturday 20 July 2019, marks 50 years since this revolutionary moment.

Space exploration has progressed tremendously over the past 50 years, from the launch of the first space station in 1971, to the first tourist venturing into space in 2001. However, none have made quite as big of an impact as the United States’ Apollo 11 crew’s mission to the Moon in the 60s.

The Royal Society
Overlooking The Mall and St James’s Park, The Royal Society archive has over 350 years of scientific development by a Fellowship of the world’s preeminent scientists. From Isaac Newton’s delineation of the laws that govern the movement of celestial bodies in 1665, to the Apollo moon landings in 1969, the historic collections show humanity’s enduring fascination with space and the part that Royal Society’s Fellows have played in advancing knowledge of the universe.

Recently acquired by the venue is the archive of space scientist, Colin Trevor Pilinger FRS (1943-2014). Best known for his development of the European Space Agency’s Beagle 2 Mars lander, Pilinger started his career analysing Apollo lunar samples, looking for evidence of extra-terrestrial life. The featured image here is from one of Pillinger’s 1960s slides, showing a piece of precious moon rock.

The Royal Institution of Great Britain
The Royal Institution has always been dedicated to science, research and innovation. Founded and located at 21 Albemarle Street since 1799, over the last 200 years, its discoveries have changed and shaped the modern world. Here Michael Faraday invented the electric motor, Humphry Davy developed the miners’ safety lamp and James Dewar pioneered the Dewar flask which in today’s society, we use to keep our drinks hot.

Today, the Ri is an independent charity dedicated to connecting people with the world of science, offering an exceptionally elegant and versatile events venue; with all revenue generated from room hire supporting the charitable aims. With eight flexible spaces to hire, the Ri has a lot to offer for a whole spectrum of events.

Imperial College London
Imperial College London’s research impact on the world is vast and a total of 14 Imperial academics have been awarded a Nobel Prize, including; Sir Alexander Fleming for his discovery of Penicillin; Dennis Gabor FRS for his invention and development of the holographic method; and in the moon-landing year of 1969, Sir George Porter FRS, who won for his studies into extremely fast chemical reactions.

World leading research in the sciences can be found throughout Imperial College London, with members of staff actively involved in projects addressing some of the World’s biggest challenges of today and tomorrow. The event spaces at Imperial College London reflect this vast array of learning, with over 100 flexible areas, both indoors and outdoors.

IET London: Savoy Place
As the UK flagship of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), IET London: Savoy Place is one of the UK’s leading venues for STEM events (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

Guests to the venue can explore some inspirational exhibits; on the first floor, ‘100 ideas that changed the world’ celebrates engineering innovations that have had a significant impact on our lives – from early technologies to recent IET Innovation Award winners. Through the full height of the building’s two staircases sits the ‘Celebrating Engineers’ gallery, which depicts outstanding engineers, past and present.

St Martin-in-the-Fields
Where would science be without the students who developed their love and knowledge of the subject at school? St Martin-in-the-Fields was a great believer in making education accessible and created the Archbishop Tenison School in 1685, providing the first free education for boys in London.

One of the world’s most famous scientists, Sir Isaac Newton lived just down the road from the venue on St Martin’s Lane from 1711-1727, his final years – perhaps a drop-in visit by the local scientist inspired the next generation of budding scientists.

Vue West End
Event professionals are being given the chance to celebrate 50 years since the first manned landing on the moon, with a private screening of the recently released ‘Apollo 11’ documentary at Vue West End. With availability for up to 270 guests, companies can make the most of the event with a canapé reception or presentation around the film showing or begin the event with your own red carpet experience on the famous Leicester Square.