*RayeRaye's Corner* 

21st February was the much anticipated Cosplay Ball that I ran with my fellow bud Mark Harper at AniMedia East along with other much needed volunteers. I made some pretty paper orb decorations and put up some purple drapes to give us a little ball feel, which was greatly appreciated! The meet was held at a venue we had been to before, The Griffin Pub in Norwich and it was such as fantastic day, we raised almost £200 in aid of charities, here is my round-up.

The meet ran from 12 mid day and we have AMV:UK (Sak) showcasing some fantastic AMV’s on two screens in the dance floor area.

Myself and a few others baked some delicious cupcakes which were on sale for the charity E.A.C.H (East Anglia Children’s Hospice) – in addition we collected a few pounds from people who wanted to participate in the Cosplay Ball that evening – in total we managed to raise £39.21 for E.A.C.H – thank you everyone!

We had a Super Smash Bro’s knock-out tournament with Joshua (Flickie) winning an item of his choosing from the charity auction goodies – big thanks to Daniel Heath who ran the gaming section!

In the afternoon, Quiz Master Mark Harper ran the first official AniMedia East Quiz – trophies were handed out to the three teams that did the best and the winners won some candy too! There was also a consolation prize for last place.

Later in the day we popped out of the venue to get some photos with Mark our official photographer – some brilliant shots were taken and shared – if anyone wants to buy prints, do shout! I adored the Totoro Girl ones that Mark took of me, very appropriate in a random field and the sunset was stunning.

Lastly we had the hugely successful Charity Auction in aid of Air Ambulance, we had some great fun bidding on items that people had kindly donated, myself included! It was a strange feeling seeing people outbid each other from my old PS1 DBZ and Kotobuki games! We raised a total of £150.76 in aid of Air Ambulance.

The end of the daytime event meant the start of the Cosplay Ball – we had some brilliant music and videos from AMV:UK – All thanks to Sak! We then ended the evening by crowning the King and Queen of the Cosplay Ball (Jason and Alex) and I created some handmade medals for them to wear as proof.

All in all it was a great day but we really hope even more people will stay for the ball next time! The next AniMedia East meet is scheduled for 18th April 2015.