Cuckoo, Ciapriani Play Polo for Las Pampas Charity Drive

The children at the Santa Maria Primary School in Argentina’s La Pampas prayed for sunshine and clear blue skies to hold some 6,000 miles away in Ham, England on June 16. The reason for their rather peculiar weather request was that conditions needed to be right for a charity polo match to benefit Fundacion Pro-Alvear, a non-profit that serves social and education causes in Argentina’s northern Pampas region. Their pleas were apparently heard and registered by the good Lord since the forecasted rain stopped just before players from London’s nightspot of the moment, The Cuckoo Club, and the city's long-time favorite spot, Cipriani London, took to the field of the Ham Polo Club for the sold-out event.

With players such as Bautista Heguy and Gaston Laulhe from Argentina and Henry Brett, former captain of the England polo team, on the field in competing teams, there was no charity during the chukkas. The Bellini-sipping crowd cheered on their chosen team but it was The Cuckoo Club’s players who triumphed in the end. The Federation of International Polo president Patrick Guerrand-Hermès was on hand to present the team with their prizes.

After the match, Cuckoo's legendary DJ Dom T kept guests on their feet and entertained in the marquee on the field and later at the after-party at The Cuckoo Club in Mayfair. Despite attracting around 600 people, the event felt intimate since it seemed that everyone was a "friend of a friend". ASW members such as Ayesha Makim, Steven Wood, Moritz Poehl and Kalita Al-Swaidi, and the event’s organizers Alexander Nix, Juan Pepa and Timo Weber ensured that ASW was well-represented amongst the crowd of polo stars, nightclub impresarios and habitués.

— Staff