Donate Now

Giddy Up – another record crowd for the 2019 Melbourne Cup Luncheon!

Another SOLD OUT crowd of over 370 guests joined team Little Heroes at the National Wine Centre on Tuesday 5th November for a fun-filled day, celebrating the race that stops the nation!

Following last year’s format, our 2019 Melbourne Cup Luncheon started outside on the terrace with a gorgeous fashion parade, hosted by Markus Hamence, with designs by Couture Love Madness, Oxford Shop, Vacay Swimwear, and TafeSA student, modeled by Azalea Models and styled by Davroe and Jerick Moral.

Inside, Hickinbotham Hall was styled thanks to Creative Concepts, Behind the Flower Wall, Chaircovers Overall, Hayley’s Flower Shop, SmartPosts and Olympic Party Hire. Our good friends at AV Plus were also on hand to ensure the day’s screen content, and all audio visuals ran smoothly – thank you team!

This year the amazing Anna Moraitis returned as our photographer for the day, capturing every moment from the day (as you can see from the sample photo gallery below). You can check out more of her work online on her Facebook page – Captured by Anna Moraitis.

Once inside, guests enjoyed a delicious three course lunch, premium wines by Pure Vision Organics. For those with a sweet tooth, we also had a stunning donut cart from Puff and Pop in the foyer, with fresh donuts from Vili’s Bakery.

As is custom at our Melbourne Cup events, all guests received a gift bag, with Davroe hair products, an assortment of National Pharmacies products, exclusive vouchers and more.

Channel 7/Today Tonight’s Rosanna Mangiarelli and FiveAA’s Leith Forrest returned as hosts, and did a magnificent job, considering we had a full house – a big thank you to both Rosanna and Leith for taking the time out of their busy schedules to host the day.

Throughout the day, guests were able to get involved in some all important fundraising in our Lucky Squares competition (with our grand prize donated by Class A Jewellers), or by purchasing a mystery bottle of wine at our Wine Wall (for the chance to win tickets to see Rob Thomas at a Day On The Green, along with a $250 Penfold’s Wine Pack, and more!)

As usual, we also hosted our traditional major auction with Harris Real Estate’s Tom Hector taking the reins as our auctioneer. A big thank you to our prize donors – Ben Watkins, Wendy Scott, Mayfair Hotel, Greyhound Racing South Australia, Adelaide United, Adelaide 36ers, Adelaide Football Club, Port Adelaide Football Club, Markus Hamence, Hurley Group, Coca Cola Amatil, Peregrine Travel Centre SA, Boileau, FiveAA, The Advertiser, and Greys PR!

Fashions on the Field, a popular part of the day, returned with winners taking home prizes thanks to Oxford Shop, and Bundle + Twine.

All guests were then invited to join our Melbourne Cup after party on the terrace, all thanks to the team at the National Wine Centre and Entertainment Adelaide.

From the team at Little Heroes Foundation, we would like to thank all who attended or supported what was a very successful event, raising a net profit of $41,000! These funds will go towards our ongoing and future programs supporting seriously ill children, along with a new partnership program with Breakthrough Mental Health Foundation.

Keep your eyes on our website and social media channels for details about this new initiative very soon!

If you would like to be added to our 2020 Melbourne Cup Luncheon wait list, to be notified when tickets go on sale, please email: Samantha@littleheroesfoundation.com.au

Major Sponsors

Fashion Parade Sponsors