CASTLE

CHARITY

BALL

Castle Charity Ball is one of University College's biggest annual events. The lead organiser is the Castle MCR Ball Chair (an elected position on the Executive Committee) who is supported by the Castle MCR Ball Committee (a team of enthusiastic and creative Castle MCR Ordinary Members)

At this annual ball, we welcome hundreds of Castle MCR Members (at as discounted rate), Durham Postgraduates and guests into Durham Castle for an amazing night of food and entertainment! 

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A key objective of the ball is to raise a huge sum of money to selected charities through ticket profits and donations. Durham University is a privileged establishment and at Castle MCR, we believe giving back to our local community is paramount. This ties in with our college motto, 'Non Nobis Solum', meaning 'Not for ourselves alone' in latin.

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Castle MCR have raised over £8000 at our two previous charity balls: Mythos (2020) and Camelot (2019). Our finance team are working hard to calculate this year's ball, The Crystal Ball, profits and donation total which we hope to announce soon!

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You can find more about our 2021 ball, The Crystal Ball, below. Hopefully this gives you a clue of what to expect for Castle Charity Ball 2022...

On 21st August 2021, Durham Castle opened its doors to welcome

450 guests to Castle Charity Ball: The Crystal Ball

~ Durham's Biggest Postgraduate Ball ~

Guests who peered into the crystal ball were be greeted to a fantastical evening of feasting,

adventuring and enchanting entertainment in this magical UNESCO World Heritage site.

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This year our chosen charities are Durham Foodbank, ARCH North East and Castle Community Action

We are proud that we will be donating 100% of the ball profits between these three charitable causes equally†. We are also fundraising by encouraging attendees and others to donate to top up our total donation amount.

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†80% of the direct profit made from this year’s MCR charity ball will be donated to the chosen charities. In compliance with the MCR’s standing orders, 20% of the direct profit made from this year’s MCR charity ball will be added to the ‘future MCR charity ball insurance fund. However, the MCR will match this value (providing it does not exceed 25% of the ball’s operating expenses) and donate it to the chosen charities so the total amount donated will be equivalent to 100% of profits going to the charities. The donated amount from the MCR will be sourced from unused committee budgets from May 2020 - May 2021. If you would like a more in-depth description please contact the Castle MCR Treasurer at treasurer.castlemcr@durham.ac.uk. You can find a copy of our standing orders here: https://www.castlemcr.co.uk/documents. 

The Crystal Ball was an epic evening

                    with Acts & Ents including:

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RuPaul’s Drag Race UK star Joe Black;

Durham’s renowned student bands The Quays and Northern Lights;

Lots of ents from AR Entertainments including wooden swingboats, a casino and mini golf;

Medieval band The Grinnigogs who performed during dining and entertained all guests with a ceilidh;

Full size Game of Thrones iron throne replica;

Immersive experiences like a silent disco in Arachnid's Rave and a live animatronic dragon

Roaming and static photographers

Flying displays from Durham Falconry

A number of food stalls including raclette from Alpine 21, crepes from FlipnFast and chocolate kebabs

We also had lutenists, jesters, fire breathers and magicians. Additionally giant battle re-enactments from Dunholm Vikings and Vanguard

 If you have any questions about Castle Charity Ball,

please email: ballchair.castlemcr@durham.ac.uk  

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Follow our Instagram to keep up to date with our plans and announcements:

The Crystal Ball 2021 (@castlecharityball) • Instagram photos and videos

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