Peter Mansbridge hosts 10th annual Goddard Fundraiser

Second World War veteran Joyce Paynter was accompanied by Jeff Hutcheson, Lisa LaFlamme and Peter Mansbridge with Gordon Belsher on guitar for a rendition of The White Cliffs of Dover. (Submitted by Sean Casey )

On November 17 2018 the Nichola Goddard Foundation hosted its 10th annual fundraiser, this year at the APM Center in Cornwall, Prince Edward Island. The event featured speeches by Peter Mansbridge and the Goddard family. Proceeds of the event supported The Nichola Goddard Fund, which support servicewomen, female Veterans and their families.

The fundraiser also featured the world premier of Care Bear Forever by Richard Wood. “Care Bear” was one of Nichola’s nicknames as a child, originating from a time she stopped ski race to help another racer, in turn losing the race herself. Wood was performing in Afghanistan at the time of Nichola’s death, and when introducing the song shared that he had been working on the song for over four years.

“I will never forget that night,” said Wood, introducing the song. “I’ll tell you one thing before I play this. I wish we had one million more Nicholas’.”

The evening also featured Second World War veteran Joyce Paynter singing a rendition of The White Cliffs of Dover, accompanied by Jeff Hutcheson, Lisa LaFlamme and Peter Mansbridge, with Gordon Belsher on guitar. Hutcheson, LaFlamme and Mansbridge raised over $2k by singing the song together at the event.