Diversity Role Models’ fundraising auction and carnival returns for its second year on Thursday 24 October, with Amy Lamé hosting.

Taking place at London’s Café de Paris, with a spectacular line-up of prizes, acts and entertainment, organisers expect it to raise even more than last year’s £76,000, when celebrity guests and performers such as Alison Moyet, Sue Perkins and Boy George mingled with the guests.

Actor and TV presenter Christopher Biggins will be the auctioneer, with prizes to include:

  • Dinner for 20 at Bocca di Lupo with hunky rugby player, Gareth Thomas.
  • Dinner at Heston Blumenthal.
  • An all inclusive trip to Swedish Lapland’s legendary Ice Hotel, including a magical tour of the Northern Lights by snowmobile.
  • A long weekend at La Fraissinède, a country retreat set in 120 acres of spectacular grounds in the south of France.
  • An original black and white lithograph of Picasso’s ‘Eveil’, one of a series created to accompany poems by Sappho, while the world-renowned artist, Andrew Salgado will be creating a bespoke piece for the night. Maggi Hambling has also offered up her talents for the cause and will be donating a piece from her collection.
  • An Olympic Torch donated by British rower and 2012 Olympic gold medallist, Katherine Grainger.
  • A signed t-shirt from Wimbledon tennis winner Andy Murray.
  • Two tickets to Clare Balding’s live show followed by a trip to the green room to catch up with her and other celebrity guests.

Proceeds go towards ensuring Diversity Role Models (DRM) can deliver their programme to as many young people as possible and work towards a world in which homophobic bullying is a thing of the past. Since its launch in 2011, DRM has delivered over 250 pro-diversity workshops to over 5,000 pupils using 74 trained role models, communicating directly with students of all ages, using positive role models to counter negative stereotypes based on sexuality.

Of the 5,000 pupils, 92% indicated that they would treat a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) person better after the workshop, while 90% indicated that they would use the word ‘gay’ as a derogatory term less in the future. In addition, after the workshops, only 1% said they would stop being friends with someone who told them they were gay – compared to 15% before the workshops started.

To book tickets for this year’s event, please see the official carnival page on the DRM website. For more information about Diversity Role Models, visit their official website.