Eva Longoria loves coming to London to visit the city’s pubs. The former ‘Desperate Housewives’ actress is a big fan of traditional British drinking establishments and when she’s in the UK she tries to find time to have a couple of pints of beer.

Speaking at The Noble Gift Gala 2012, which was held at the ME Hotel in London on Saturday night (10.12.12), Eva told BANG Showbiz: ”I love being in London, even though normally I have busy schedules that don’t allow me to enjoy the city that much. But sometimes I think of jumping out of the car and sitting in a pub for a while. Unfortunately, I came here to work and it’s been pretty busy so far.”

The event was hosted to raise funds in support of three charities, The Eva Longoria Foundation, Fight for Life and Caudwell Children, and Eva went to visit the University College Hospital to see the work Fight For Life is doing to help children battling cancer. The screen beauty admits the visit was a humbling experience and she was so impressed by the bravery shown by the kids who are battling to get well.

Eva revealed: ”We’re raising money for Fight For Life, which is going to help a lot of children. We went to the University College Hospital and got to see the facilities and the new machine they purchased to facilitate radiotherapy treatments for children. That’s the main goal for this event, to keep on contributing on these causes in which we are all directly involved. We were talking to parents, siblings, doctors and everybody who are working really hard to improve the services to children with cancer.

”I just felt really humble when I visited the kids at the hospital. I was so impressed about how strong and resilient they are. I think they truly define what strength involves. Although they were happy to see me there, it was them who lifted my spirits. I could feel that they are going through this family tragedy by sticking to each other, to their families and also with the support of the whole community. That’s why I wanted to do this event in London, because this country is really generous and supportive of charities. Here there’s a strong sense of community that is admirable.”

Other guests included will.i.am, Mel B – who acted as Mistress of Ceremony – Ashley Roberts and Stooshe. Black Eyed Peas star will.i.am was presented with the 2012 Noble Gift Humanitarian Award at the event for his outstanding contribution to charity. Amongst his philanthropic activities, will.i.am created his i.am.angel Foundation to provide after-school tutoring and scholarships for disadvantaged young people seeking to attend university through his i.am College Track Programme.

His foundation operates the i.am.Home Fund to help prevent struggling families in the United States from losing their homes, while earlier this year the musician made a major contribution to The Prince’s Trust to support technology and computer skill development initiatives in the UK

Source: tv3.ie

Eva Longoria may have found fame starring in Desperate Housewives but she’s since used her celebrity for incredible causes, in particular helping Latino women to build better futures for themselves via her charity, The Eva Longoria Foundation. As the stunning activist embarks on yet another fundraising initiative by throwing The Noble Gift Gala in London this weekend, Eva took the time to encourage all of us to get involved and stresses we don’t need to be a film star or have a huge bank balance to do our bit.

Speaking exclusively to Marie Claire online about her charity work she said: ‘One of the biggest myths is that you have to be rich to be a philanthropist, that’s not the case.

‘Most charities and foundations are run by volunteers – people may not be able to give money, but they can still give their time.’

Right now times are tougher than ever and Eva wants to ensure people remember to keep giving. She added: ‘With the world being where it is economically, it’s more important to do charity work than ever before.

‘And it’s important to be part of this fundraising initiative [The Noble Gift Gala] to make a difference to women and children around the world who need our help.’

Eva has managed to produce a star-studded guest list for this weekend’s gala event at the ME Hotel with the likes of will.i.am and Mel B attending.

‘We have a great line up of talented people who have offered their time to be with us,’ said Eva who returns to the gala for the third time. ‘We always call it a fun-raising event, we put the ‘fun’ back in fundraising.’

But at the very core of things will always be charity and Eva summed things up nicely adding: ‘What we try to do with Noble Gift Gala, is help a lot of local foundations making sure we’re doing remarkable things in the country where we’re fundraising.’

The Noble Gift Gala supports The Eva Longoria Foundation, Caudwell Children and Fight for Life charities. To purchase a ticket for the event or for more information see thenoblegiftgala.com

Source: marieclaire.co.uk