John Smith Memorial Trust hosts Reception at the River Room
On Wednesday 7th May 2008, Trustees and Advisors of the John Smith Memorial Trust were joined by Trust sponsors and friends at the Lord Speaker’s residence in the House of Lords. The reception was held in the magnificent River Room overlooking the Thames, by kind permission of the Lord Speaker. The John Smith Memorial Trust is grateful to Mr. Stephen Clark, the Deputy Chairman, and the members of the Board of Directors of VTB Bank Europe, for their kind sponsorship of this event.
L-R Simon Fanshawe, Lord Robertson, Lord Falconer (JSMT), Roger Munnings (KPMG), and Stephen Clark (VTB) speak at the JSMT River Room Reception
The reception was attended by a great number of the Trust’s key supporters, including the Ministry of Justice, BP, KPMG, RBS and Clifford Chance. To support and expand our work the Trust has launched a Corporate Friends Scheme. To read more about this please use the following link: Corporate Friends Scheme
Several of our John Smith Alumni who are currently studying in the UK were also able to join us for the evening. Writer and broadcaster, Simon Fanshawe, welcomed guests to the event and encouraged potential sponsors to support the Fellowship Programme. A number of sponsors expressed their continuing support of the Trust. Roger Munnings, who spoke on behalf of KPMG, spoke about the importance of the Trust’s work to the seven Fellowship countries. Bob Ness of the British Council spoke about his positive experiences whilst meeting our Fellows on a recent trip to Georgia. Stephen Clark from VTB Europe expressed his honour at sponsoring the event and encouraged others to become further involved in the Trust’s work
Guests at the JSMT Reception
The Trust was delighted to screen its new promotional film at the event which contained messages of support from sponsors, clips of the recent Networking Conference in Georgia, and footage of Fellows discussing the importance of the Trust’s work and the impact the Fellowship Programme has had on them and their work.
Roger Munnings (KMPG) and former Trust Chairman Lord Robertson encourage potential sponsors to support the Fellowship Programme
The River Room reception also marked the end of Lord Robertson’s outstanding chairmanship of the Trust. He was thanked by Lord Falconer, the Trust’s new Chairman, for his commitment to the Trust and its Fellows. Lord Falconer presented Lord Robertson with a gift on behalf of Trustees and staff for his excellent leadership over the last four years.
May 2008