Besides having a very good time with our wonderful entertainers, vocalist Denise Scott (first time in Farthing Court, she won everyone’s heart with her beautiful voice) and everyone’s favourite William Smith, we also had ourselves an extremely busy time doing charity work. The list of our humble achievements and milestones is getting longer and longer. Picture right > Our ever so often full notice board with posters of upcoming events. |
A traditional Wimbledon Tea and Quiz organised by our tennis experts, Sally and Belinda, ensured a good atmosphere and competitiveness. The Reminisce Afternoon brought back precious memories while owners enjoyed having tea and cakes (a selection from the original menu) in our own replica of a Lyons Cornerhouse. A selection of the late Mr Ivor Kaye’s favourite songs presented by Olivera (with a little help from our friends, Paul Kaye and Lisa) reminded all of us how much music brings people together.
More good time was ensured with, not one but two musical bingos! The first was run by Frank, one of the Fab Boys, which we highly recommend. The second one was conducted by Helen and was, as always, a great success.
About the charity work:
Traditionally we organise seasonal Charity Collections for BHF and never miss a yearly Macmillan Coffee Morning (around £3,000 collected over the years), while Yasmin had set up a stamp collection for Parkinson’s UK. This year though, it went over our wildest expectations!
Thank to Belinda and Sally we got engaged in the Food Aid charity (packing bags of tea and sweets) and our volunteers managed to pass the 100,000 tea bags milestone in just a couple of months! As you are aware there are so many sad and difficult news stories at the moment with the tough times across the world, so it’s important to celebrate moments of kindness more than ever. The charity captured some pictures and film to use on social media and potentially engage local press to bring this story to life and create awareness of Food Bank Aid and encourage donations. Click on the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0xrBInQPMw
By pure chance Yasmin found out about a charity called Driving Aid to Ukraine and their amazing work. So far, we managed to collect two full vans of second-hand medical equipment, linen for hospital beds, 2,000 reusable face masks, and lots of warm clothing to name but a few items. The best thing was to meet people, like Michael who is collecting the goods and delivering it personally to those in need.
The list is not ending here.
We donated a fair number of books from our ever-expanding library with some CDs and DVDs to a care home and made some people very happy! They will refresh their collection of books and donate to a local charity shop the books they don’t need.
Our one and only charity champion of the year Sally, who already took part in some amazing events, was an official RBL Poppy badges seller. We are so proud of her!