Cover John and Alia Eyres at the 2024 Mother’s Choice gala (Photo: courtesy of Mother's Choice)
John and Alia Eyres at the 2024 Mother’s Choice gala (Photo: courtesy of Mother's Choice)
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On May 11, 400 guests attended the fundraising event of local charity Mother’s Choice, which has been supporting children without families and pregnant teenagers in Hong Kong for more than 30 years
When? May 11, 2024
Where? JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong’s ballroom
Who? Alia Eyres, Phyllis Marwah, Charlotte Tsuei, Joanna Lui Hickox, Joyce Tam, Sonia Cheng, Septime Webre and Alix Fownes
Here’s what you missed: On May 11, Mother’s Choice held its annual fundraising dinner at the JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong’s ballroom. It welcomed over 400 guests for a night of celebrations, which featured auctions, performances—and messages of hope.
This year, the annual fundraising dinner’s theme was Black Tie and Floral—one that attendees fully embraced. Against a vibrant backdrop of fresh flowers Troy Hickox, Lucia Tait Tolani and Purviz Shroff mingled with other guests.
You might also like: Phyllis Marwah and Alia Eyres on finding purpose, changing lives, and nurturing their mother-daughter relationship
Connie Wei Yang and Jennifer Yu Cheng at the 2024 Mother’s Choice Gala
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Behind the floral decoration, Mother’s Choice’s most urgent mission rang loud and clear: the Hong Kong foster care system has reached full capacity, and there are still hundreds of children in need of a safe space to live. Speeches and emotional testimonies from foster families, which left not a dry eye in the room, revealed that the system now looks after 4,500 children in Hong Kong. There are around 400 to 600 more children on a waitlist, who must wait an average of 31 months to get into the foster care system, while still living in unsafe environments or in hospitals. The longer a child lives without a family, the more detrimental it can be to their development. On top of this, at least 5,400 girls and women between the ages of 15 and 24 in Hong Kong are faced with unplanned pregnancies every year.
But “Mother’s Choice chooses to be optimistic and to share the gift of hope,” said Alia Eyres, as she delivered her last speech as the CEO of Mother’s Choice.
After almost 13 years as the head of the organisation, Eyres—who is a Tatler’s Asia Most Influential honouree—officially announced she is stepping down from her role, which was met with many misty eyes. She introduced mental health advocate Sky Siu as the new CEO of the organisation.
Eyres’s legacy is one to be celebrated. Born and raised in Hong Kong, she is the eldest of seven and has seven children herself. She has been volunteering for Mother’s Choice, which her mother Phyllis Marwah founded, since childhood. Since 2012, the former corporate lawyer has been a strong, steady leader of a team of 150, providing quality support services for children and families in crisis.
And her message is clear. While she’s stepping down, the work of Mother’s Choice has never been more needed in the city. From helping girls to fostering kids: the evening called for funds as much as actions from attendees.
Throughout both silent and live auctions, attendees made sure that Eyres’s words were heard. A wines and champagne round in the auction, which alone garnered HK$1.8 million, saw enthusiastic bidding from guests. Items that went under the hammer included coveted wines like the Arnoux Lachaux Romanee Saint Vivant Grand Cru 2012 and Domaine Leflaive Batard Montrachet Grand Cru 2014. The Champagne Salon 2022 garnered one of the highest bids of the night.
Saying the gala was a success is an understatement: the evening raised a record-breaking sum of HK$31.2 million, which will play a vital role in supporting the charity’s mission to provide care to pregnant teenage girls, young women and infants in need.
Credits
Photography: Courtesy of Mother's Choice
Salomé Grouard was Digital Editor and Front & Female Content Lead at Tatler Hong Kong. Primarily focused on managing Tatler Hong Kong’s digital platform and content, she also covers gender equality, the music scene and sports through interviews with industry leaders, experts and trendsetters.
Interview highlights include renowned conservationist Dr Jane Goodall, Korean actor Park Seo Jun, singer Jorja Smith, Chinese TV host Yue-Sai Kan, YouTuber Kimono Mom, Japanese rapper Awich, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter Mikey Musumeci.
She has also produced stories on revolutionising sexual wellness in Asia, activism within the surfing community, Asian trans musicians reclaiming their narratives through music and looked at the toxicity of gym culture through the lens of the plus-size community. She also covers music festivals, such as Hong Kong’s Clockenflap and Bali’s Suara.
