Softcat breaks £1m charity fundraising barrier with latest May Ball

Charity event has 'taken on a life of its own', claims CEO Martin Hellawell

Softcat's latest May Ball event has seen the firm smash the £1m fundraising mark for the Dreams Come True charity.

The reseller held the event in London's Grosvenor Hotel on Friday night, raising £290,000 for the charity, which helps terminally and seriously ill children.

The cash from Friday's event contributed towards an overall total of £1.07m which has been raised for the charity over the last four annual events.

The event is attended by about 1,000 people - half consisting of Softcat staff, and the rest vendors partners, who pay for a table. A charity auction and raffles are held throughout the evening in order to top up the grand total.

All the cash raised on the night and from ticket sales goes to the charity, with Softcat picking up the bill for the evening.

Softcat CEO Martin Hellawell said the event has grown considerably since it began.

"We started a charity May Ball maybe eight years ago and it was in Wycombe Town Hall with about 100 people there and we raised £10,000," he said.

"But it has taken on a life of its own and got bigger and bigger and bigger. There are two guys at Softcat who are salespeople by day - Charlie Harman and Michael Walker - they head up our charity team and just get on with it and make it happen."