03 September 2018 | IWC ,

Every year, at the end of August, the F1 Charity Night, which is the event dedicated to raising funds for projects carried out by the Laureus Italia Foundation, takes place. For those of you who are not in the know, this event celebrates the Foundation's projects aimed at helping young disadvantaged people living on the outskirts of the major Italian towns such as Milan, Rome and Naples.

It is no coincidence that this event takes place during the weekend where the Italian Formula One Grand Prix officially takes place, because the event itself has a major imapct and two of the biggest sponsors of the gala dinner, namely Mercedes and IWC, are partnering in Formula One as well as they are main sponsors of the Laures Sport for Good Foundation.

The F1 Charity Night is one of the most important events of the year for Laureus Italy and it is an evening where very special items, that include fine watches, cars and memorabilia for the die-hard sports fan, are auctioned. The proceeds of the offers help finance a lot of new projects and since Mercedes Petronas AMG is involved in the Grand Prix of Monza as well as in the fund raising campaign, a driver from the Formula One team is usually invited.

Lewis Hamilton, who's personally involved in many humanitarian and social projects too and was last year in charge of welcoming all the guests attending the gala dinner, has been this year replaced by his team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who was interviewed by Formula One's renowned Italian reporter Federica Masolin.

Among the many sports personalities who have now permanently joined the team of Laureus' ambassadors, were the beautiful Bebe Vio, the famous rugby star Ian McKinley and former football player Alex Del Piero, just to name a few. As far as the items auctioned were concerned - the charity totaled over €300,000 - they included some true collector's pieces among which the watches were the most coveted since they considerably raise their value from the moment they are assigned to the final winner.

This year the IWC Portofino collection got under the spotlight - just take a look at our hands-on review from the SIHH - and IWC auctioned therefore a very special Portofino crafted in platinum, a one-off piece as it was, last year, the blue IWC Big Pilot's Watch Perpetual Calendar in steel.

All the proceeds from the evening will help fund new sports projects because, as Nelson Mandela used to say: "Sport has the power to change the world".

1500 are the children involved in the projects carried out by Laureus Italia, that involve more than 20 different sports activities. Moreover, Laureus Italy not only organizes these projects but fosters coaches and educators to carry them on independently in their towns, respectively, once they have been rolled-out.

The projects organized by the Foundation are not only constantly growing year after year, their effectiveness is also being monitored with the support of the Bocconi University, which helps Laureus Italia evaluate their social impact through a standard KPI called SROI, or Social Return on Investment, which allows them to quantify the social and economic impact on young generations and disadvantaged urban areas alike.

(Photo credit: courtesy of IWC Schaffausen)

Gaetano C @Horbiter® 

Instagram - Gaetano Cimmino

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