Warsaw was feted with the tastes and sounds of Scotland at the St Andrews Foundation Poland Charity Ceilidh on 30 November 2024.
A ceilidh is an evening of Scottish country dancing where everyone joins in, and it is a great way of celebrating the country’s patron saint’s day, St Andrew’s Day just before the winter sets in.
“This year we had a really special evening,” said Paul Gogoliński, the Chairman of the St Andrews Foundation, Poland, the organizers of the event.
“Over160 people in attendance, who danced the night away to Scottish to up-tempo country dance music. We’d like to thank all of our guests sponsors, who made it happen.
“And the amazing thing is that we were able to raise significant amounts for our charity causes, helping sick children and those with special needs.”
“We are still totting up the proceeds, but it looks like we raised over 30.000 złotys, said Iain Leyden, the Vice Chairman of the St Andrew’s Foundation, who added that the apportionment of the funds to the charities would be announced shortly.
“It’s was a new venue for us – the Reduta Bank of Poland. The historical significance of the building, brought a special warmth to the event. It was much less formal than in past years, and it was great to see so many young people up on the dance floor,” said Katarzyna Udd, one of the Scots in Poland team active in organizing the event the Poles know as “Andrzejki’..
A march from the Czestochowa Pipes And Drums music and dance group, attended by the Black Watch historical reenactment troop gave attendees no doubt of the evening’s intent to provide a feast of Scottish culture, Polish style.
The Częstochowa school of bagpiping and drumming from southern Poland formed and led by Tomasz Ujma, a former soldier, who served alongside Scots allies, who taught him to play the distinctive Celtic instrument, is a regular feature of the Foundation’s hallmark St Andrew’s Day event.
The Black Watch group, which re-enacts the Scottish regiment’s peacekeeping effort in Silesia in southern Poland in the 1920’s, played a role in the event for the first time, and providing added gravitas to the piper’s performance.
This was followed by Glasgow-born Adam Chazanów’s rendition of Robert Burn’s “Address to a Haggis.” The Ayrshire doric poem, first published in The Caledonian Mercury in 1786, sets out a defence of “the chieftain of the puddin’ race.” Brave Scots warriors far prefer the “warm, reeking, rich” haggis, Scotland’s national dish, to the disdainful “French ragout or fricase” on the bill of fare of pretentious habitues of contemporary Edinburgh parlours, Chazanów told his audience in no uncertain terms, gouging the sausage with a Scottish skean dhu knife.
Paul Gogoliński, who hosted the evening, accompanied by top Polish TV Host Tomasz Wolny, announced the winners of awards for contributions to Scottish culture, a new element of the St Andrew’s Night’s entertainment.
The evening’s Scottish Ceilidh dancing was led by The Cutting Edge Ceilidh Band, whose mix of traditional melodies and stomping rock ditties had everyone on their feet.
The main sponsors of the event Patroned by the British Embassy, this year included United Beverages, the exclusive spirits sponsor of the evening, who provided a whisky bar with a range of fine malts from their cellars, and Perła, a Lublin-based brewery, which as the beer sponsor. The coffee sponsor was JAVA Coffee Roasters.
The media sponsor was Kids in the City.
A charity auction and a lottery draw helped raise most of the funds that will be donated to our charities this year.
“The items were all donated in a magnificent effort by the evening’s supporters, and we will be thanking them all individually,” said St Andrew’s Foundation board member David Kennedy.
In previous years the proceeds have gone to several causes, including the Helenów horseriding centre for handicapped children Iskierka Foundation and the Micah Project.
At Helenów the St Andrews Foundation contributions helped fund the construction of a covered riding arena.
Iskierka receives funds to provide medical equipment and support for children in hospitals it supports in Southern Poland.
The St Andrews Foundation is a registered Polish set up in 2015.
The board members are Paul Gogolinski, Iain Leyden and David Kennedy, who receive major assistance from Scots in Poland supporters Katarzyna Udd Nick Fitzwilliams, Ian Wilcock, Tim Martin, Victoria Gogolinski and Magda Gogolinski.
Recent Comments