The Winter Ball, run by a committee for more than three decades, raised over £520,000 for Noah's Ark Children's Hospice at The Dorchester in 2025.
The Winter Ball raised over £520,000 for Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice at The Dorchester in Mayfair on Saturday 29 November 2025. Bradley Walsh hosted and took the auctioneer’s role himself.
Michael McInerney, a local businessman, established Noah’s Ark in 1999 after the death of a child in his family. In 2006 it became the first children’s hospice to run a Home Support Volunteer Service.
A £10 million appeal launched in 2015 built The Ark, a purpose-built hospice that opened in 2019. The Care Quality Commission first rated the charity outstanding in 2023, and in 2025 The Lounge opened at The Ark for the young people it supports.
The ball has run for more than three decades under a standing committee, and has raised more than £23 million for children’s charities in that time. Walsh has hosted it for more than 18 years and has never charged a fee.
Alexandra Burke headed the 2025 entertainment, with Mixed Feelings, The Baracade Boys and G&S Performing Arts. A silent auction ran on guests’ phones and the table iPads. The money raised goes directly to seriously unwell babies, children and young people, and to their families.