Awards that have provided a lifeline for children

Now 10, Alice has total body cerebral palsy, is partially sighted, suffers from hearing loss and has no verbal communication. She is totally reliant on adults for most, if not all, of her needs.

Looking after her is always a challenge for her parents, Trisha and Philip, who have endured many trips to the hospital and live with constant ups and downs. But there are moments of joy too.

“When she wakes up in the morning and you see her little face smiling at you, that just says it all,” said Mrs Marston, 44, who gave up her job at Morrisons to become a full-time carer.

“She just loves people, people singing to her and pulling faces at her. She’s a real people person. And she’s very strong willed.”

The little things that could make their lives easier are expensive to buy and often beyond the family income, provided solely by Mr Marston’s job as a manager at a company that serves the oil and gas sectors.

Fortunately though, the Marstons found a lifeline from the Variety Club Children’s Charity, which has paid for sensory equipment and a special height adjustable bath with integral stretcher for Alice.

“It’s quite hard when you haven’t got much money coming in. These things are just lovely to have but they are so expensive. It just makes a huge difference,” said Mrs Marston.

“We really appreciate all the hard work that people have put in to raise the money and give our child a bit of life and a bit of fun.”

They are one of many families in Yorkshire who have been helped by the work of the Variety Club and its fundraising efforts, including one particular annual event that reaches a significant milestone this year.

In December, the Yorkshire Business Awards will celebrate 25 years of supporting disadvantaged children across the region.

The awards lunch has so far raised more than £3m, helping to pay for 70 Sunshine coaches, 150 wheelchairs and 500 general appeals.

Today, the Yorkshire Post tells the story of how this special event came about, the famous speakers it has attracted, the past winners and the equipment it has bought for families like the Marstons.

The Yorkshire committee of the Variety Club was founded in 1961. It was an eclectic group of people, all well-known businessmen of the day. What brought them together was a focus on improving the lives of disabled and disadvantaged children, which they did for many years.

Then came the 1980s. Martin Shaw, a corporate lawyer and committee member, takes up the story.

“These were the boom years, the like of which have never been seen since. They spawned 150 Yorkshire plcs in terms of flotations. Yorkshire was put on the map. We were floating 15-20 companies a year. It was an astonishing period.

“While all that was starting to happen in 1986, we thought that an awards event would capture the mindset.”

At the same time, Leeds was going through a transformation. Out went the traditional textiles industries and in came the professional firms with their shiny new offices as the city established a considerable reputation for itself as a leading service centre.

“When it came to high profile corporate finance work, for the first time ever there was no need to be dragged down to London to see merchant bankers and stockbrokers with cap in hand,” said Mr Shaw, who is now head of corporate, Europe, at Pinsent Masons.

“It all changed. That was coupled with the fact that some smart guys in London realised what was happening therefore a lot of banks, stockbrokers and private equity houses decided they had better get offices in the regions. That was the boom to compare with since.”

That burgeoning professional community of Leeds, a group of entrepreneurs, executives and advisers, served up a ready-made audience for an annual fundraising lunch to be held at The Queens, the city’s elegant Art Deco hotel.

So began an annual institution that gave both recognition to the business community and the chance for these well-heeled individuals to give something back.

The first person to be named Yorkshire Executive of the Year was emblematic of the times.

Bill Rooney was co-founder of the Spring Ram Corporation, then one of the country’s largest bathroom and kitchen manufacturers.

According to Mr Shaw, he was “one of Margaret Thatcher’s golden boys, an entrepreneur who took something from zero and created all these jobs for hundreds and hundreds of people and continued to grow year after year after year”.

Until, that is, the mid-90s when the company ran into difficulties. It was eventually sold to the American manufacturer of Jacuzzi.

Waddingtons, the first company to win Yorkshire Board of the Year, is also no longer, though the man who led it, Victor Watson, is a regular fixture on the business circuit and a city grandee, if there ever was one.

Through the intervening years the story of corporate Yorkshire unfolds through the winners of the awards, with names like Halifax Building Society and Cattles serving as reminders that companies can go down as well as up.

The awards have always been able to attract high-profile speakers, bringing personalities of national and international repute to the ballroom of The Queens and traditional three-hour lunch.

Mr Shaw recalls three who stood out for him. Sir Richard Greenbury, the former chairman of Marks & Spencer and a man known for his autocratic style, did so for the wrong reasons.

“During the VIP reception before the lunch he called for Martin Shaw and told me: ‘We are eight minutes behind schedule, what are you going to do about it?’

“Later, at the end of his speech to a room of bankers, lawyers and accountants, he said he needed to go and to talk to some real people. Everybody was absolutely gobsmacked. That’s rankled to this day.”

The most gifted speaker in a list that includes statesmen of global standing was Philip Lader, then the United States Ambassador to the Court of St James and now the chairman of advertising giant, WPP.

He asked for Mr Shaw to meet him at the train station. “As soon as the train doors opened, a mass of these people jumped out and started running alongside him. I’d never seen so much security.

“He talked to me about the Variety Club and about Leeds between getting off the train and getting into The Queens and every piece of information I gave him in that short period he used during his speech. He had everybody in his hand. He had a gift of relating to the people in that vicinity. He had a standing ovation that lasted about five minutes. In terms of oratory, we have not had anyone like that since.”

The third stand-out was Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, who for all the negative media attention she has had, spoke honestly and movingly about the plight of abused children.

“She was almost in tears herself and was so grateful for what the Variety Club was doing for one of her charities,” said Mr Shaw. “This was not the Duchess of York trying to get publicity.

“There was a side to her that was absolutely genuinely caring and wanting to make a difference.”

The Variety Club Yorkshire Business Awards, now supported by the Yorkshire Post and executive search firm Hitchenor Wakeford, take place this year on December 9.

Hunt is on for the star players

The search is on for the winners of 2011’s Variety Club Yorkshire Business Awards.

As usual, there are three categories. Business Leader of the Year, sponsored by this newspaper, is for an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to his or her company.

Board of the Year, sponsored by Hitchenor Wakeford, is for a firm that can demonstrate a strong performance and profit record.

Small Business of the Year, sponsored by Santander Corporate Banking, is for a company with a turnover less than £20m and no more than 150 employees.

The Variety Club will also present its Lifetime Achievement Award.

To nominate, please email the Yorkshire Post’s Business Editor via [email protected] with the name of the company, plus turnover and profit figures for the last three years, by October 23.