The Winter Ball returns to The Dorchester on Saturday 28 November 2026, 18:30 to 02:00, with live and silent auctions in aid of Noah's Ark Children's Hospice.
The Winter Ball returns to The Dorchester in Mayfair on Saturday 28 November 2026, in aid of Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice. The evening puts dancing ahead of dinner and speeches.
Michael McInerney founded Noah’s Ark in 1999, after a child in his own family died in a local hospital. He found almost no paediatric palliative care available in the area.
The charity began offering hospice care at home from a small office in London Colney in 2006. The Ark, its own building in Barnet, opened in 2019. It now supports children with life-limiting conditions and their families across north and central London.
Children’s palliative care is the least funded corner of the sector, and a hospice of this kind draws only a small part of its income from the state. The rest comes from a supporter base that has to be rebuilt every year.
The ball runs from 18:30 to 02:00, with dinner, live and silent auctions and a night of entertainment. A standing committee convenes it each year, and the money goes to a purpose-built hospice rather than a converted house.