Case Study: Naked Heart Foundation charity fundraiser
Location: Roundhouse, London
Date: Feb 2015
Client: Inca Productions.
Equipment: Helter skelter & coconut shy
WHAT WE DID: we supplied the hero centrepiece Helter Skelter for the Naked Heart Foundation charity fundraiser, as well as our coconut shy. The event was fronted by supermodels Karlie Kloss and Natalia Vodianova, and was attended by the rich and famous of fashion, sport, and music.
Inca Productions contacted us to see if we could provide a centrepiece for the inaugural NHF fundraiser. They had in mind a Helter skelter, but were unsure as to the feasibility of this. We felt that a site visit was essential, as the there were many hurdles to overcome to make this project happen. The venue was the iconic Roundhouse in Camden, and the production manager informed me that they had this booked for only 48hrs for the whole job in total! The event was only to last for four hours, the rest of the time was for set up, and de-rig. There was only one set of double emergency exit doors for us to load in through, and our lorry was too big to drive in. We would have to unload at the doors, and then carry every piece of the Helter skelter into the centre of the space (a task in itself). Once inside, a normal build could take place, built we only had a limited time to load in through the doors, as other elements of the event also needed to be brought in that way. We also had to be mindful of the space we were using, as there were many suppliers all trying to set up simultaneously, and we had by far the largest thing in the area. The other main concern of the production team, was the ceiling height in the building. We took measurements on the initial site visit, and it was determined we would have to leave the decorative dome section from the top of the Helter Skelter in order for it to fit. After we had set up, we had only 40cm to spare!
Once the Helter skelter was built, we would only have around 90minutes to grab some food, shower, and change in to our party attire. This consisted of trousers and shirts, with braces and dickie bows, and the most outlandish top hats. We were to man the Helter skelter to ensure guests were safe, and had the best experience possible. The other stalls and games were run by celebrities including Stella McCartney serving her vegan Hot dogs, Eva Herzigova running the ice cream stall, and David Ginola challenging guests to games of table football. We had renowned milliner Stephen Jones OBE running the coconut shy. The guest list was also a star studded affair, with the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Calvin Harris, Cara Delevingne, and Taylor Swift, all there to help raise money. Many of those sliding down our Helter skelter commented it was the first time they had been on a ride like it.
When the party was over, the race against the clock was on once more, as we had to remove and be clear by 6am. This we managed with around an hour to spare.
The keyword of this job was planning, and lots of it. We actually had two site visits to go over everything with the production team, and remeasure the ceiling, as they were quite nervous that the Helter Skelter may not fit. We had to bring in a larger than normal team, to compensate for the extra distance that we needed to carry across, and also to mitigate the time constraints. The job was carried out perfectly, and to schedule by our team. The event raised nearly £400000! for the children’s Charity.