The POETS team invited guests to their first fundraising event for 2026. Members and guests started the evening with pre-drinks at the popular Merchant Sports Bar on Brentwood’s High Street, Northeast of Greater London, before heading to The Eastern Oriental, an authentic Chinese restaurant in the heart of Brentwood.

The Eastern Oriental has been a popular choice for many years with the POETS members. It's a popular restaurant that honours the rich traditions of Chinese cuisine, preparing each dish with time-honoured techniques passed down through generations with a warm and elegant atmosphere.

The POETS Society's regular charities are North London Hospice and Haven House Children’s Hospice, which they are proud to have supported for many years. At the January AGM, it was decided that a draw would take place at the Chinese fundraising evening to reveal who would be the POETS third charity for the year.

The members put their preferred charities into a hat, and chairman Chris Gardner revealed the winning charity for 2026 would be Prostrate Cancer UK. Prostate Cancer UK is a prostate cancer research, awareness, and support organisation that is a registered charity in England and Wales, as well as in Scotland.

A fantastic night of great food and drink was enjoyed by members and guests, and over £360.00 was raised throughout the evening, an excellent start to our 2026 fundraising.  

The evening closed with POETS chairman Chris Gardner welcoming Neil Mace to become a member of the POETS team. Crest Managing Director Stuart King and a POET’S member introduced Neil to the charity over a year ago and have brought his marketing experience in designing a new look website, along with marketing leaflets for fundraising events.

To find out more about Eastern Oriental
please click the link:

www.eobrentwood.com