New Year’s Eve 31st December 2007
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children

Since Altitude Broadcasting and Corporate Studios opened on September 7th 2007 numerous corporate companies have held meetings, launches and special presentations, all enjoying Altitudes luxurious surroundings, five star hospitality and unrivalled views. Altitude decided to give something back to the local community on a very special evening of the year. We therefore invited Great Ormond Street Hospital to select a group of terminally ill children who were well enough to briefly leave the hospital, along with their entire families to celebrate New Year's Eve with us. A special evening was arranged for the children and their families to watch the magnificent London Fireworks Display. All the children had battled bravely with cancer throughout 2007 and were chosen as deserving a special evening with their family "away from it all".

The evening was held in memory of Bernard Etzin who lost his battle to cancer the year previously on December 28th 2006, and as an opportunity for a special evening of memories and "a night off" for the families who were tragically experiencing the same battle that he bravely fought.

After meticulous planning, on the 31st December 2007, transport was arranged to collect the children and their families from Great Ormond Street Hospital and other hospices in the surrounding area so that they could all meet together at Altitude. Altitude arranged Salt and Pepper Private food design to put on a wonderful dinner for all to enjoy and the families had the chance of socialising with each other, whilst the children enjoyed the activities on offer and especially each other's company. A professional photographer was also on hand to catch the smiles from the evening and the spectacular fireworks show.

Just before midnight, everyone took their seats in the window bays ready for the big show to start at midnight, courtesy of The Mayor of London. At exactly midnight to see in 2008, the London fireworks display commenced. With fireworks going off in front of the London Eye, Big Ben and The Houses of Parliament as well as all across the city, the children and their families quite rightly had "The best seats in the house" watching the display from the many window bays in Altitude. The evening was a great success and thoroughly enjoyed by all the children, families, volunteers and staff from Altitude and Great Ormond Street Hospital. A special CD of memories was produced for each of the families with photos of their own family and the fireworks to remember the evening by.

We would like to give special thanks to everyone from Altitude, The Great Ormond Street Hospital and The Etzin Foundation who made the evening so special. We would also like to give special thanks to the following individuals who without their hard work and dedication the evening would not have been possible.:

Danni Minogue, (Celebrity Singer) and Justin Etzin (The Etzin Foundation) — The Event Organisers

Tim Wild — The Evening Coordinator

Mr Jacobs — The Altitude Venue Manager
Alex Kersjes — The Altitude Managing Director