NOTICE - LADY JAFFRAY'S MUSICAL SOIREE IN AID OF ST JOHN'S HOSPICE - TUESDAY 24th MAY 2011

Lady Jaffray with His Excellency the President of BASMOM

With the support of the British Association of the Order of Malta, Anne Lady Jaffray is holding the fourth of her annual Soirees on 24th May to raise much needed funds for St John's Hospice at the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth. The Grand Master of the Order, HMEH Fra' Matthew Festing, has graciously accepted an invitation to be present.

The last event raised enough to buy an electrically operated bed, which was blessed by the Archbishop of Westminster, The Most Revd Vincent Nichols. Dr Chris Farnham, the Medical Director at the Hospice, said the bed had met with the approval of both patients and nursing staff. Lady Jaffray hopes to raise at least as much this year, as further beds are urgently needed in the refurbished Hospice, which was officially re-opened on 31st March by the Secretary of State for Health, the Rt Hon Andrew Lansley, CBE, MP. The Archbishop is to say Mass in the Order’s Conventual Church, adjacent to the Hospice, on 25th May 2011 at 11 am, in celebration of the improvements.

The Soiree is to be held, as previously, in the elegant surroundings of Imperial College at 170 Queens Gate, South Kensington. Tickets are £75 each and may be ordered from Naomi Glancy at the Hospice Fundraising office (Tel: 020 7806 4012, E-mail: naomi.glancy@hje.org.uk). After the initial reception at 7pm there is to be a 45-minute concert of choral music, followed by wine and supper. Dress is Black Tie.

This year's music, sung (without remuneration) by Schola Baptista, the choir of the Conventual Church under the direction of Eoghain Murphy, will include the three great Naval Motets of the Order, praying for the lifting of the Great Siege of Malta and celebrating the formation of the Holy League's and the famous victory at Lepanto.

Please support this worthy cause and at the same time have a very enjoyable, relaxed evening.