In 2022 we were thrilled to have Boodles as the headline sponsor of our seventies themed event - a theme that was enthusiastically embraced by many of our guests! The style and music of that incredible decade made for a colour-filled room at Prestonfield House with guests on their feet and dancing along with the West End performers to some iconic music of the era. Des Clarke and Amy Irons were joined on stage by Grant Stott and Natasha Raskin-Sharp, ably assisted by honorary Old Bag, Christopher Biggins, to launch our amazing auction. Auction prizes included not-to-be-missed , money-can’t-buy prizes such as a Cunard Caribbean Cruise with First Class flights, Glenapp Sea Safari and a portrait by Gerard Burns not to mention bags by Chanel, Dior, Mulberry and Gucci. Celebrity endorsement included a video message from Prince’s Trust Ambassador, Tess Daly, delivered to everyone in the room, which wholeheartedly celebrated the contribution of The Trust in supporting and equipping young people with life and career skills and confidence. Over the course of the afternoon, we were delighted to raise £601,000 to help young people in need of support in Scotland by donating all event proceeds to The Prince’s Trust Scotland. The Trust’s Ambassador, Shannon, presented a moving illustration about how The Prince’s Trust Scotland has made a significant and positive impact to her life and future prospects. Her story was inspiring and served well to encourage our continued efforts through our ‘Lunch with an Old Bag’ event to expand our fund-raising efforts in 2023 as we enter our fifteenth anniversary year in 2023!
The 2021 Lunch with an Old Bag charity event sponsored by Carbon Financial was a roaring success and raised more than £500,000 to help change the lives of young Scots - with a little help from Jerry Hall. Joining the guests at the a 1920s themed extravaganza was host Des Clarke along with Amy Irons, Auctioneer Alex Fleming and Christopher Biggins and singers and dancers from the London West End stage. Prince’s Trust Young Ambassador Emma-May Millar, 22, from Denny was also in attendance and told the audience how she had been impacted by the pandemic and lockdown. Money was raised during a glittering auction that featured, an exclusive wine and dine experience at Prestonfield House with the Bichot family, Burgundy’s top land owners and producers, a lunch with fashion royalty Anya Hindmarch CBE, a gorgeous Hermès Birkin bag and stunning jewellery from Theo Fennell to name a few.
2020 brought immense challenges to everyone as the world faced the COVID-19 pandemic. Many events were either cancelled or moved to a virtual format, and LWOB was no different. Cancelling was not an option for us, so we worked hard to offer a glamorous, fun, and exciting event from the comfort of our guests’ own homes. We still had amazing prizes and entertainment and despite all the changes, raised and incredible £90,000 for The Prince’s Trust! Of course, it wouldn’t be LWOB without our hosts Des and Grant who were there at Prestonfield to host proceedings, …and Old Bag favourite and VIP Biggins even popped in to say hello. While we loved the challenge of adapting LWOB and were so pleased to be able to bring our Old Bags together during such a difficult time, we are very excited at the prospect of being able to bring back LWOB face-to-face in 2021.
As we entered a new decade, there was no doubt we would do it in style. To accommodate the biggest show of them all, we had to extend the stage and make the event even more exclusive. Our guests were welcomed with a classic ‘Show Must Go On’ performed by West End dancers, followed by songs ‘Million Dreams’ with special choreography. To guests’ surprise we also introduced 3 lovely Moulin Rouge dancers who arrived from Paris, were all born in Scotland! They presented our fast bags wearing classic costumes, with each of them being carefully described by Fanny Rabasse, representative of the Moulin Rouge. This was a truly unforgettable day and a perfect step to the new decade of Lunch with an Old Bag!
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This was a special year for all our Old Bags as we reached 10 years of the fabulous Lunch with an Old Bag. Fast Bags received a boost of glamour with gorgeous Drag Queens running the show. We raffled a diamond and sold amazing money-can’t-buy live auction prizes, including Mr Brainwash painting, which sold for £100,000! We also reached our milestone, by raising over £1m for Young People in Scotland!
On 7th September, our gorgeous Old Bags were entertained by the truly sensational Sister Sledge, undisputed Queens of Disco, who brought the house down with classics like "We are Family" and "The Greatest Dancer"!
Our Hot Rock was a sparkling Edwardian diamond cluster, with 9 brilliantly cut diamonds, and our fabulous Fast Bags included beauties from Givenchy, Valentino, Louboutin and Alexander McQueen. Iain Milne, "The Bear" joined us to announce the results (in pounds lost and pounds raised) of his incredible weight-loss challenge, and our stupendous Live Auction offered the delights of Paris, Antwerp, Barbados, New York and Burgundy, featuring London Fashion Week, Diamonds, Chelsea Flower Show, a Transatlantic Cruise and Florentine Designer Shopping. And oooohhhhh, soooo much more!
After another magical afternoon, we announced total funds raised of £725,187 (incredible!).
Since 2009, LWOB has raised an impressive £3,709,537.00 which translates directly into fresh starts for some3709 young Scottish people through The Prince's Trust Scotland. With your help, the LWOB 2018 Committee hopes to continue the positive trend, and to make this year, our sensational 10th anniversary, the most glitzy, glamorous and generous event yet.
On 2nd September 2016, in honour of the 40th Anniversary of The Prince's Trust, our fabulous Old Bags surpassed themselves, raising an extraordinary £759,000 for LWOB. Bryan Ferry and his band performed some classics, including "Love is the Drug" and "Jealous Guy" and our Gold Bags, who between them raised over £60,000 during 2016, all recieved a very special award. With our sensational 40th Anniversary Hot Ruby adding to the day's sparkle, it was a day that glittered from start to finish.
With The Overtones back by special demand, and a finale from the very charming Darius, LWOB15 exceeded even the fabulous success of 2014. Fantastic Fast Bags from Gucci, Fendi and Victoria Beckham raised record sums, Judy Murray appeared over Skype to help auction an amazing Davis Cup Main Auction prize, and Jack Vettriano got up on stage to yet again raise sensational sums from a selection of Limited Edition signed prints. Our Hot Rock raffle ring was another stunning sparkler, and over all we raised an amazing £550,350.00!
The oh-so charming, very handsome and downright lovely Overtones had our glamorous Old Bags dancing by the Prestonfield stage to classics like the (very appropriate!) Pretty Woman, as we took LWOB to an all time high. With another collection of covetable bags from the likes of Celine, Gucci, Dior and Victoria Beckham, and auction prizes including a Transatlantic cruise, a Monaco Grand Prix trip and a Laing diamond experience, we saw funds raised surpass all previous years. Local Hero prizes from Jack Vettriano, Ian Rankin, Judy Murray and Chris Hoy, and a stunning sparkler sourced by Edward Green, helped raise an amazing £544,000!
As a fitting conclusion, two of our favourite boys, Des Clarke and Grant Stott, were presented with Honorary Old Bag awards.
If ever there were three ladies who knock the “Old Bag” label right on its head, it’s 2013’s very special guests, the downright glamorous Three Degrees, who jetted over from the US to get us all on our feet (and some of us even on our chairs!) dancing! The fifth fabulous Lunch with an Old Bag soared to new heights, with iconic bags from Chanel, Lanvin, Alexander McQueen, Christian Louboutin and Gucci, and very special prizes from two local heroes, Andy Murray and Jack Vettriano. With the help of Judy Murray and Jack on stage, Andy’s Wimbledon Racket Bag and Jack’s Man Bag raised amazing sums, generated standing ovations for our generous donors and bidders, and brought the total raised on the day to an absolutely staggering £450,000.
A special award went to Jacqui Low, who has supported LWOB since its inception and, in recognition of a cumulative total of £1,131,000.00 raised in our first five years, our very favourite man, James Thomson, without whom the event simply wouldn’t be possible, was proudly acknowledged as a Prince’s Trust Platinum Patron.
Fresh from the ‘Strictly’ dance floor, Jason Donovan dazzled us, and put stars in our eyes! The former Neighbours heartthrob and singer provided fab entertainment, which thrilled us and even enticed us to join in, while an even more stunning selection of luxury bags and tempting prizes came under the Auctioneer's hammer - including Andy Murray’s signed Olympic gold winning racquet and ball - all contributing to a phenomenal year, raising an amazing £269,000, and all against one of the toughest economic climates any of us Old Bags can even remember - an achievement to be proud of.
Britain’s best-selling classical singer Russell Watson crooned to Scotland’s Old Bags when they returned to Prestonfield for event number three. As well as the joy of witnessing a stunning and intimate performance by this famous tenor, LWOB 2011 reached new heights of luxury offerings, Fast Bags were hotter than ever, and excited Auction winners went away with once-in-a-lifetime experiences including afternoon tea with Christopher Biggins and a helicopter getaway. On that fine day we raised a total of £178,000.
Iconic singer, songwriter and businesswoman Lulu ensured the next LWOB had just as much glitz, glamour and fun when she cheerfully took to the stage. LWOB 2010 attracted a wealth of tempting new prizes from stunning designer bags by Vivienne Westwood, Chloe and Zagliani, to a one-to-one practice session with one of the UK’s best known tennis coaches (and outstanding tennis mum) Judy Murray. Our second event raised £157,000 for The Prince’s Trust Scotland.
The inaugural lunch got off to a stylish start for co-visionaries Geraldine Gammell and James Thomson, with celebrities from Sienna Millar to Chris Hoy donating glamorous handbags and long-held trusted satchels. The Timmy Woods clutch seen swung about by Carrie in the opening scene of 'Sex and the City' even made an appearance. Among the 500 guests were some of Scotland’s highest profile ‘Old Bags,’ including Carol Smillie and Claire Grogan, and the day was topped off by welcoming the lunch’s first keynote speaker, broadcaster Dame Joan Bakewell. Together we raised £78,000.
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