Property Idols Sing Themselves Hoarse For Unicorn………
But The Monkeys Are Crowned Kings Of The Property Jungle

24 June, London: Property moguls ditched pinstripes for pantaloons and platforms at the '70s-themed Party Near The Park to raise over £100,000 for the new Unicorn Theatre for Children last night.

Over 1,000 property professionals turned out at Old Billingsgate Market to witness industry leaders and CEOs undergo a spectacular transformation, reappearing on stage as Sonny and Cher, Abba, Sister Sledge and The Monkeys amongst others.

Ten acts performed to win the accolade Unicorn Property Idol 2005 with votes being purchased by the audience for £1 per vote. Bribery and corruption flourished.

• Taking first place was The Monkeys a.k.a Alistair Hughes of Jones Lang LaSalle, David Erwin of Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker, Stewart Colderick of Dalgleish and Alistair Watson of Welbeck Land, who made Daydream Believer entirely their own.
  
  
• Unrecognisable as ZZ Top, four black clad bearded rockers from Ernst & Young came a lively second with Gimme me all your lovin'. Ernst & Young's first time performers were: Andrew Ovey, Will Elgood, Graham Prothero and David Royce all from the company's Real Estate Group. Ernst & Young's office is on the More London Development beside the new Unicorn Theatre.
  
  
• In third place was girl power group City Sledge made up of Jo Valentine of London First, Noel Harwerth of Tubelines, Valerie Shawcross, AM London Assembly and Bridget Rosewell of the GLA with a roof-raising rendition of We Are Family.

The Unicorn Theatre is the first purpose-designed theatre for children in the UK. The theatre needs to raise just under £1m to reach its funding target of £13.3m. It is currently under construction on Tooley Street, Southwark and is due to open in late 2005. Proceeds from Party Near The Park will go towards helping the Unicorn reaching its funding goal. A percentage of the funds raised will also go to property charity Land Aid.

Tony Graham, Unicorn Artistic Director, said: "We are on the brink of opening our fantastic new theatre that will touch the lives of thousands of families, children and schools. Party Near The Park is a testament to the property industry's enthusiasm and commitment to this project, and their generous support for our capital appeal."

Ronald Spinney, Unicorn Theatre and Chairman of Hammerson PLC, said: 'It's not often property professionals get the chance to sing in public and they relish the chance to perform in front of their peers. The new theatre will be a unique facility for children both in London and beyond and I am most grateful to everyone in the property industry for their help in raising money for such a good cause."

Party Near The Park is in its fourth year and has raised almost £350,000 towards the Unicorn theatre for children. The event's sponsors are Helical Bar, Knight Frank, Lovells, Montagu Evans, Property Week, Schatunowski Brooks and Welbeck Land.

Party Near The Park was created by Unicorn Board member Alistair Watson from Welbeck Land, and Bob Kidby from Lovells who have given outstanding support to the project.

End

About Unicorn
Unicorn is the foremost producer of theatre for children in the UK. Founded in 1947, Unicorn has been creating theatre productions and running arts education programmes for 4 - 12 year-olds throughout the UK for over 57 years. It aims to produce theatre with the power to transform a child's understanding of the world around them and provide spectacular learning opportunities. All children are welcome. Unicorn runs programmes for deaf and hearing-impaired children as well as those from disadvantaged communities. Its AccessWorks programme has enabled over 15,000 children in financial hardship to see productions.

About the new Unicorn Theatre
Unicorn is located on Tooley Street, close to the GLA building and Tower Bridge. It is part of the More London development, which is part of the Foster & Partners masterplan for the area. Unicorn is designed by Keith Williams Architects and Mansell Construction Services is lead contactor. Other companies involved include:

• Theatre Projects Consultants - Theatre Consultants
  
• Charcoalblue - Theatre Consultants
  
• Bucknall Austin - Quantity Surveyors
  
• Arup Associates - Structural, Service and Mechanical Engineers
  
• Arup Acoustics - Acousticians
  
• Buro Happold - Access Consultants
  

Unicorn's plans and models have been exhibited in the Theatre Museum, Covent Garden along with other ground breaking theatre designs and, in 2003, it won the Architectural Review/MIPIM Award for Future Projects.

Designing the theatre
To design the new theatre, Keith Williams Architects and Unicorn developed a unique consultation process with pupils from Tower Bridge Primary - Unicorn Young Consultants. For three years during the planning phase children worked with architects on all aspects of the theatre's design. This included visiting theatres all over London, exploring issues around what theatre means for children through to selecting the public artist and helping on specific design issues such as seating.


Further information:
Unicorn Theatre For Children:
Mairi Bell 020 7697 1173 Mairi@unicorntheatre.com

Kallaway Ltd
William Kallaway 020 7221 7883 william@kallaway.co.uk


Websites
Unicorn Theatre For Children - www.unicorntheatre.com
Land Aid - www.landaid.org
Party Near The Park - www.partynearthepark.co.uk

Pictures
Images from rehearsals can be viewed and downloaded from here

Images from Party Near the Park 2004 can be viewed and downloaded from here

Previous releases and quotes from performers
Excitement builds and voices crack in rehearsals: http://www.kallaway.co.uk/unicorn9.htm