Plymouth
Business Charity Group
We’re a group of local Plymouth business owners, passionate about fund raising, coming together to put on fun, high quality, black tie balls to raise awareness and support Plymouth local charities.
Date: 13th June 2025
- Tour of the Citadel battlements by Captain Baz Green
- Buffet lunch & drinks within the Warrant Officers’ and Sergeants’ mess
- Ourdoor Marquee presentation about the Chestnut Appeal and the Chestnut Unit at Derriford by the CEO and Chief Consultant + Q&A with Men’s cancer surgeon and nurses
- Presentation on the history of the Special Air Service (SAS) by multi-award winning and best selling author Damien Lewis. There will be a chance to see a rare copy of the original SAS war diary there also, followed by Q&A with Damien Lewis + ex SAS soldier.
- Known business community people with various stages of cancer will be there with the charity for a Q&A for all people to ask everything they want to know about men’s cancer. Questions can be taken publicly or privately at the venue.
- “man disco”
- Charity auction and raffle prizes to be won.
- Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) Home check kits will also be given out on the day allowing you to check your levels at home.
TICKETS
🎫 £50 per person. Please email us direct for details – info@plymouthbusinesscharitygroup.co.uk and feel free to speak to our committee members if you have any questions or want to get involved in this event.
2025 Current Committee: Paul Montgomery, Agata Kalend-Łuszczyńska, Lauren Rogers, Michael Mann, Scott Grenney and Leslie Dy-Durden.
All money raised will be going to The Chestnut Appeal helping their vital work they do.
Sponsors
Please get in touch if you’d like to support the Chestnut Appeal support events we have planned
AUCTION PRIZES
This June, we are auctioning an extraordinary one-of-a-kind piece of military memorabilia on eBay—an item that will take pride of place in the lucky winner’s home. In addition to the online auction, the piece will be showcased at a live event on 13 June, held at the historic Royal Citadel in Plymouth, home of 29 Commando Regiment, where you’ll have the chance to view it in person.
The centrepiece of the frame is a reproduction of Hitler’s infamous Commando Order—a chilling directive issued during World War II that ordered the immediate execution of all captured commandos and parachutists. Surrounding the document are berets and cap badges representing the main regiments targeted by the order, alongside an iconic Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife, the symbol of Allied special forces.
What truly sets this piece apart is what’s on the reverse: authentic signatures from an extraordinary group of individuals—special forces veterans, decorated war heroes, and military authors—listed in the order they signed:
• Damien Lewis – Military Author
• Mark ‘Splash’ Aston – ex-SAS
• Staz Stazicker CGC – ex-SBS
• Toby Gutteridge – ex-SBS
• Jason ‘Foxy’ Fox – ex-SBS
• Joshua Leakey VC – 1 Para
• Mark Ormrod MBE – ex-Royal Marines
• Tip Cullen – Lead Actor in Sunray: Fallen Soldier, ex-RM Mountain Leader
• Col (Retd) Al Carns DSO OBE MC MP – ex-CO SBS
• Col (Retd) Stuart Tootal DSO OBE – ex-CO 3 Para
• Ollie Ollerton – ex-SBS
• Col (Retd) Tim Collins OBE – ex-SAS
• Mark ‘Billy’ Billingham – ex-SAS
• Andy McNab CBE DCM MM DArts – ex-SAS
• Johnny Mercer – Former 29 Cdo Regt officer, same regiment as Maj Gus March-Phillips DSO MBE (SOE)
• Chris Ryan MM – ex-SAS
Each signature is accompanied by photo authentication to confirm the signing. In the lead-up to the auction, we’ll be sharing more about each individual and their remarkable contributions.
About our chosen Charity
CHESTNUT APPEAL
The Chestnut Appeal for Men’s Health is based at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth and we work right across Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The charity was established in 1999.
Raising awareness of the most common cancer in men, prostate cancer, is at the heart of everything they do, 1 in 8 men will get prostate cancer, that changes to 1 in 4 if it is in your family or if you are black. They also raise awareness of testicular cancer and the little talked about penile cancer.
Their work with prostate, testicular and penile cancer patients and their families is only possible thanks to donations.
TOTAL RAISED TO DATE
(2021, 2022 & 2024)
£107,257.61
PBCG Committee – We’re a group of local Plymouth business owners, passionate about fund raising, coming together to put on fun, high quality, black tie balls to raise awareness and support Plymouth local charities.
2025 Current Committee: Paul Montgomery, Agata Kalend-Łuszczyńska, Lauren Rogers, Michael Mann, Scott Grenney and Leslie Dy-Durden.
Past Committee Members: Annette Laurie
2021 – Plymouth Together Fund
2022 – REORG Charity
2023 – We took a little break!
2024 – Trevi Women
2025 – Chestnut Appeal
Our Previous Black Tie Balls
Charity Ball - November 2024 in aid of the TREVI Women
Today (11th December 2024), we were incredibly proud to reveal the total raised from our recent Trevi Ball, with a cheque presentation to the charity. Thanks to generous fund matching, an astonishing £44,000 was raised—an amount that will have a significant impact in supporting their vital work.
We are deeply grateful to everyone who attended the charity ball on November 2nd at the Crowne Plaza. On the night, we raised an impressive £24,000, and with an additional £20,000 in matching funds from the Big Give, our final total reached £44,000.
We recently visited Trevi’s Sunflower Women’s Centre, where we had the opportunity to meet with Carrie, their corporate fundraising expert, to confirm the match funding from the Big Give and the total amount raised from the ball. It was truly inspiring to see firsthand how these funds are directly helping vulnerable women.
We were honoured to be joined by our event sponsor, PL1 Events, and House Sponsor, Michael Spiers, at the unveiling of the total at the Treasury. We were also thrilled to welcome some of our most generous auction prize donors, including Emilie Susie Artist, JP from the Treasury, and David Ellam from Brittany Ferries, who were all in attendance to see the incredible impact of their contributions.
The success of this event would not have been possible without the incredible generosity of our supporters. We are sincerely grateful to everyone who contributed, whether by attending the ball, donating auction prizes, or offering their time and resources to make the evening a success. Your kindness has made a tangible difference to the lives of the women supported by Trevi, and we are excited to continue this partnership as we work together to create lasting change.
With the addition of this incredible £44,000, the Plymouth Business Charity Group has now raised a total of £107,257.61 for local charities. We are proud of what we’ve achieved together and are already planning something exciting for next year. Stay tuned for more announcements coming soon!
From Plymouth Business Charity Committee Group 2024 – (committee members) Paul Montgomery, Agata Kalend-Łuszczyńska, Lauren Rogers, Michael Mann, Scott Grenney and Leslie Dy-Durden
Charity Ball - November 2022 in aid of the REORG Charity
We met with Mark Ormrod and Sam from REORG Charity yesterday to present an updated cheque of £27,257.61 to them. Having thought our total was £22k, we actually had more coming in and a great donation from YGS Landscapes Ltd to bring our total well up.
Mark and Sam mentioned some of the great help that has already been channeled through to help veterans and blue light services get the help they need from our total raised.
Thank you for your attendance on the last ball to raise this amazing amount for a brilliant local charity.
Find out more about REORG Charity.
Charity Ball - November 2021 in aid of the Plymouth Together Fund
Despite only having a few weeks to plan the event, the committee – led by Paul Montgomery – stepped up to transform the Crowne Plaza Hotel and put on a fabulous evening which more than doubled the organisers’ initial fund-raising target.
Paul said: “The amazing committee of Annette Laurie, Agata Kalend-Łuszczyńska, Lauren Rogers and Michael Mann came together to plan and action this business fund-raiser, and I’m speechless what they have achieved in such a short time together.
“Much thanks has to be given to a few local businesses who stepped up to make the evening possible as well, as well as Alexis Bowater for being fantastic on the auction, helping to raise thousands of pounds; and to all businesses who contributed to the prize pool and all businesses and guests who attended – you are simply outstanding.
“We cannot wait to see you all again and have plans afoot for next year for something special. See you all again soon.”
Chamber CEO Stuart Elford added: “An amazing night and great achievement on raising £36k. Well done to Paul Montgomery and the committee on a top job.”
See more, including photos by Agata of Upart Photography here.
Find out more about the Plymouth Together Fund.