Masonic Festival at Stowe School
Date: Sunday July 18, 2010
The branch had a stall at the Masonic Festival at Stowe School on Sunday 18th July 2010 which was manned by Paul Niven and Peggy and Mick Southgate, who brought Chalkie the 7 month old Labrador they are currently socialising. They were joined later by Jacqui Chapman who is a Regional Fundraiser based at the Charity’s headquarters in Saunderton and Liz Johnson the recipient of Hearing Dog Emmy.
The weather was very kind with no rain. It was a very successful day with long queues at times for the Soft Toy Game, not quite as long as the queue at the food van! We completely sold out of tickets to win a toy dog and all the 25 dog toys were won. The Hearing Dogs goods also sold well.
The actual site was fantastic and it was surrounded by the magnificent school buildings on one side, a golf course on the other and a cricket pitch in the middle. Thanks to all those who helped on the day and organised things in advance of the event. Also special thanks to Jacqui and Liz who travelled from Berkshire to help out.
The Brownies and Guides Matchstick Fete
Date: Tuesday June 22, 2010
The Brownies, Rainbows and Guides held their matchstick fete on 22nd June 2010 and were all very eager to meet Chalky the six month old Labrador who is being socialised by Peggy. Some paid to have their photo taken with him, others were happy to pat and talk to him. The soft dog game was extremely popular, many of the children having multiple attempts to win a toy dog. The children paid for everything using matchsticks which made all transactions far easier to organise and fun to work out. At the end of the evening we had raised 694 matchsticks which sounds fantastically good, and in real life equates to £69.40. The children bought a few items from the Hearing Dog goods and craft items but mainly concentrated their skills on the three games which also included; catching the rat and guessing the number of dog treats in the jar. A very lively, busy evening was had by all. Thank you to all who helped and especially Chalky.
Thrift Farm Open Day 2010
Date: Wednesday June 16, 2010
The Thrift Farm Open Day was held on 16th June 2010. The day started early and people began arriving very quickly. There were still people coming at six in the evening. On our stall we were offering a variety of items for sale mainly with children in mind. These included soft dog toys, craft materials, Hearing Dog goods and some knitted items. The customers were attracted mainly by the games, ‘name the dog’ ‘win a dog’ and ‘catch the rat’ which yet again proved to be very popular. Children became very inventive and canny about the various ways they could beat the rat. Everybody was very friendly and welcoming and it was a very happy occasion. The day was very hot, we are told, but we had very thoughtfully been placed under a large shady tree and did not see a great deal of the sun. In total at the end of the day we raised £97.14. We also raised the profile of Hearing Dogs and were able to give information about the charity to a variety of interested people. A great day was had by all.