Everyone wanted to come, everyone wanted to give a prize

When Mark Asplin was bought tickets to the British Military Tournament in December 2010, he didn’t realise that he’d emerge as one of Team Big Curry’s favourite fundraisers by April 2011. Walking away from the Big Curry stand in Earl’s Court, clutching a recipe card and sachet of turmeric, he thought perhaps he’d have a few friends round for a curry and raise a some money for ABF The Soldiers’ Charity. Before long, after chatting to his colleagues at Princebuild Ltd., family and friends, his little curry night had to move down the road to the local curry house, because ‘everyone wanted to come…’

Luckily for Mark, his local curry house is run by an old friend of the family – a Big Curry thank you to Ronnie Choudhury at the Bombay Brasserie in Peterborough for all his help and support – which meant that when numbers surpassed the original 150 person target and swept on to a whopping 200, Ronnie agreed to let the whole restaurant go Big Curry for the night.

But the good Mr Choudhury was not the only positive influence on Mark’s Big Curry plans, as his wife Sarah (responsible for buying the tickets to the British Military Tournament, for which she gets an extra Big Curry thank you) had the genius idea of getting our Big Curry supporters Sharwood’s on the phone, and before you could say “thanks for the generous contribution” a van-load of supplies had turned up at their front door, enough for ten prize hampers in the raffle Mark had up his sleeve, because ‘everyone wanted to give a prize…’

In amidst the ten Sharwood’s hampers, Mark’s goodly guests had provided a veritable smorgasbord of raffle prizes to raise the stakes on their fundraising aspirations – with something to suit all tastes, from free skip hire; myriad bottles of champagne; a week staying at a private villa in Corfu; vintage port; Easter eggs; to tickets to Truck Fest. So one more Big Curry thank you to everyone who got involved, and showed how one community of people digging in and digging deep can really make an impact.

Mark is one of our favourite Big Curry fundraisers not least because he raised a beyond-brilliant £3385; but mostly because he proved how easy it can be to host your own successful Big Curry – talk to your friends, family and colleagues, find out how many of them want to come, how many of them can give a prize, and see what a difference your efforts can make to our soldiers, former soldiers and their families.

So our final Big Curry thank you goes to Mark, for letting a good idea grow to become a great evening, and for promising to make his Big Curry even bigger and better in 2012.