Supporters:
Antony Worrall Thompson (celebrity chef and restaurateur)
Celebrity chef and restaurateur Antony Worrall Thompson is patron of Forest. No mere figurehead, he has given numerous interviews on our behalf, whether it be breakfast television, Channel 4 News, or the BBC World Service. He has also hosted Forest events at The Groucho Club in Soho, and The Savoy Hotel in London.
Joe Jackson (musician)
Joe Jackson lived in New York for 20 years until 2003 when the smoking ban was one of several factors that drove him back to Britain. Discovering Forest, he wrote, was like finding “a light in the darkness”. As well as writing articles on the subject of smoking bans for the New York Times and the Daily Telegraph, Joe also wrote an acclaimed essay (The Smoking Issue). He was interviewed several times on television and radio, making two appearances on the Today programme, BBC Radio 4’s flagship news programme.
Ranald Macdonald (restaurateur and businessman)
Managing director of Boisdale Bars and Restaurants in London, Ranald is the son of a Scottish clan chief. A successful businessman, he enjoys good food, fine wine – and cigars. In addition to giving a number of media interviews, Ranald has co-hosted numerous Forest events including our Politics & Prohibition reception at the 2006 Conservative party conference (where he was “arrested” for encouraging guests to enjoy themselves), and a succession of parties at Boisdale including events to mark Forest’s 35th anniversary in 2014, and a 40th anniversary gala dinner in 2019. More recently, Ranald has co-hosted the Forest Summer Lunch at Boisdale of Belgravia in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Gone but not forgotten …
Forest is proud to have been supported by, among others, the late great Auberon Waugh (1939-2001), magazine publisher Felix Dennis (1947-2014), Trevor Bayliss OBE (1937-2018), inventor of the clockwork radio, playwright and Oscar-winning screenwriter Sir Ronald Harwood (1934-2020), and artist David Hockney (1937-2026). David first attended a private Forest dinner in 2004. He described it as a “life-enhancing experience” and was inspired to write a letter to the Guardian defending smoking. The following year he attended the Forest Annual Awards at The Groucho Club, and famously spoke at a Forest event at the Labour party conference in Brighton. In 2008 he attended another Forest event in London, and in 2011 he was a guest speaker at a reception organised by Forest on the terrace at the House of Commons. To all our departed friends, RIP.
