LONDON, May 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- London's energy, financial and trading communities turned on the magic when they convened May 1 for the annual Platts-sponsored Energy Dinner, which raises funds for WellChild, the U.K. national organization for sick children and one of patron Prince Harry's six favorite charities. Patrons donated approximately £124,000* in support of WellChild at the 11(th) annual black-tie dinner.

"Platts is proud and honored to yet again play a role in the continued support of WellChild and its important initiatives," said Ben Legg, commercial director, European power and gas at Platts, the energy and metals information arm of McGraw Hill Financial and Dinner sponsor since 2004. "With the generous donations of the energy and financial communities, the event has now raised more than £1.6 million in aid of sick children, their families and the nurses who help them."

Each year the aim is to make the dinner an uplifting, entertaining experience, and this year, guests were mesmerized by the magical transformation of London's Intercontinental Park Lane ballroom to an illusionist's theater of black and red, bespeckled with playing cards and magic-trick imagery. There, lady magicians greeted more than 500 guests from such companies as Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, Centrica, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Ernst & Young, IntercontinentalExchange, ICAP, GDF Suez, Gazprom, and Morgan Stanley.

All proceeds from the Energy Dinner will support WellChild's wide-ranging initiatives, including:

    --  Its specialist WellChild Nursing teams, which care for children with
        complex care needs in and out of hospital
    --  Its WellChild Helping Hands program, which supports volunteers in
        tackling home re-design development projects necessary to facilitate any
        special needs of critically-ill children returning home from hospital
    --  Its various research endeavors

"Platts never disappoints with its annual Energy Dinner, which is a fun event for all, but which most importantly raises awareness of the healthcare needs of seriously ill children," said Colin Dyer, WellChild chief executive. "We thank Platts and guests from the energy and financial arenas for their continued support and look forward to what we can accomplish together in the decades to come."

To help sick children and their families as they deal with the consequences of serious and complex illness, WellChild focuses its efforts on three key areas - care, support and research. The charity has invested more than £20 million in ground-breaking children's health research projects.

In March 2007, Prince Harry became the first royal patron of WellChild and has shown a personal commitment to helping WellChild improve opportunities for seriously ill children and young people. To learn more about Price Harry's WellChild patronage and the organization, visit www.wellchild.org.uk.

*Final donation totals, including those contributed at the silent auction, are still pending.

About WellChild: There are thousands of children and young people in the U.K. living with a long-term or complex health condition. WellChild is the national charity working to ensure the best possible care and support for all these children and their families wherever they are and whenever they need it. Although we're best known for our U.K.-wide team of WellChild Nurses who provide practical and emotional support particularly in the home, we also invest in countless other projects to enable families with seriously ill children to get the support they need for every step of their journey. Through our WellChild Helping Hands scheme we lead teams of volunteers to tackle simple but essential improvements in hundreds of families' homes. And we also ensure that the needs and views of families with very sick children are heard by governments and other decision makers.

About Platts: Founded in 1909, Platts is a leading global provider of energy, petrochemicals, metals and agriculture information and a premier source of benchmark prices for the physical and futures markets. Platts' news, pricing, analytics, commentary and conferences help customers make better-informed trading and business decisions and help the markets operate with greater transparency and efficiency. Customers in more than 150 countries benefit from Platts' coverage of the biofuels, carbon emissions, coal, electricity, oil, natural gas, metals, nuclear power, petrochemical, shipping and sugar markets. A division of McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI), Platts is based in London with approximately 900 employees in more than 15 offices worldwide. Additional information is available at http://www.platts.com.

About McGraw Hill Financial: McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI), a financial intelligence company, is a leader in credit ratings, benchmarks and analytics for the global capital and commodity markets. Iconic brands include: Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, S&P Capital IQ, S&P Dow Jones Indices, Platts, CRISIL, J.D. Power and McGraw Hill Construction. The Company has approximately 17,000 employees in 29 countries. Additional information is available at www.mhfi.com.

SOURCE Platts

SOURCE: Platts