Dori’s World

The Raisa Gorbachev Foundation Party

Goga Ashkenazi, dressed in black Valentino, hosted a table of 10 at the Raisa Gorbachev Foundation Party at Stud House, Hampton Court Palace, on June 5, 2010 in Richmond upon Thames, London, England. The night benefited the Raisa Gorbachev Foundation, an international fund fighting childhood cancer.

On hand were some of the royalty of film, including Hugh Grant, Vanessa Redgrave, Anjelica Huston, Joely Richardson, and Claire Forlani. Fashion designers Matthew Williamson and Patrick Cox joined the festivities, along with founder of
Gift-Library.com Caroline Stanbury and her husband Cem Habib; Cheyne Capital hedge fund manager Jonathan Lourie; model Astrid Muñoz; Israeli socialite Hofit Golan; head of Sky Pictures William Turner and his wife Emily Oppenheimer; Green Shield Stamps heir Tim Jefferies; and Robert Hanson and his new bride Masha Markova.

The event took place at the Stud House, the private home of the Lebedev family, located 45 minutes from central London. The reception was held on the lawns of the house, followed by dinner and an auction hosted by Marie Curie Cancer Care CEO Thomas Hughes-Hallett. A truly spectacular array of unique lots went up for bid. Last year, 1.1 million pounds were raised on the auction alone. This year, the event raised 1.7 million pounds, thanks in part to Mariani Blekana, who bid on a 50,000 pound item.

After the auction, Simon Le Bon from Duran Duran performed and we danced the night away. The next day, I relaxed at Jonathan Lourie’s home after such an exciting evening.

The Raisa Gorbachev Foundation was established by Evgeny Lebedev and Mikhail Gorbachev in 2006 as a not-for-profit organization to commemorate the life of Mikhail’s wife, who died from Leukemia in 1999.