Celebrating 5 Years of HIEF

We were delighted to hold our 5th Birthday Celebration event on the 5th November at the Caledonian Club, London.

Over 80 guests joined us to celebrate the achievements of our first five years. Since launching at the end of 2020, HIEF has supported over 60 grassroots projects working with local communities to protect and restore nature in the Scottish Highlands & Islands.

HIEF co-founder, Hugh Raven, welcomed everyone to the elaborate Morrison Room in the Caledonian Club and set the scene for an evening celebrating the successes of the people and projects we support, including the inspirational Cutting Down project.

A highlight of the night for many was hearing from our guest speaker, Alastair Fothergill OBE, esteemed producer and director of nature documentaries such as Planet Earth.  Alastair took us on a breathtaking visual tour through the mountains, forests, and coastlines of the Highlands & Islands, with excerpts from the Wild Isles series, featuring iconic native species including red squirrels, sea eagles, and orcas.

Throughout the event, guests enjoyed whisky and botanical-spirit based cocktails courtesy of Nc’nean, an independent, organic whisky distillery on the Morvern peninsula on the west coast of Scotland.

The evening concluded with a raffle and auction of generously donated prizes such as whisky, cashmere, and long-weekend cottage retreats, to raise funds for HIEF.

Grateful thanks to all our corporate sponsors (picture 1 in the below slide deck), raffle and auction supporters and guests for helping to make the event such a success.