LONDON, 20 June 2004 — The eighth annual GCC Polo Cup was held in Windsor Great Park at the Guards Polo Club. As is customary, the event was under the patronage of HRH the Prince of Wales. The purpose of the event was primarily to raise money for various Middle Eastern and British charities. It was also an opportunity to underline and promote close cultural ties and cooperation between the United Kingdom and Arab countries.
The occasion was enhanced by the presence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth who presented the prizes and also the donations to certain charities. Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Britain, also attended the event and participated in the prize-giving and awards ceremony.
The charities benefiting were the Prince’s Trust, the Naam Group of Saudi Arabia, and the Fund For Integrated Rural Development of Syria. The Naam Group, which means “yes” in Arabic, aims to serve the Saudi community by means of participating in prevalent social, cultural and educational awareness campaigns with the objective of increasing awareness of real Muslim values and traditions. The Fund For Integrated Rural Development of Syria, FIRDOS, has been a pioneer in promoting sustainable rural development in Syria. With a strategy grounded in “helping people to help themselves,” FIRDOS continues to foster a collective work ethic in its target communities.
The organizer of this annual event is the BMG Foundation, led by Basil Al Ghalayini. Also involved were the Guards Polo Club and Time Limited which arranged the teams.
There was a distinguished list of sponsors this year. The main one was MEDGULF and the “Gold Sponsors” included the Al Hamrani Group of Companies as well as the ABC International Bank. The “Silver Sponsors” included Crystal Arc, Impact Proximity and MBC.
