Afternoon Tea at Lyndhurst Park Hotel – Saturday 15th February 2014
Well, it finally arrived – the day of our main event. The last few weeks had been nailbiting, wondering if we would sell enough tickets to make the event a success, would people enjoy themselves, would the entertainment all run smoothly, how would the art auction go, etc. etc. Sleep was something we snatched through the night – waking up at three in the morning and having to do something towards the big day that “Just couldn’t wait”. Emails followed by text messages saying “I’ve sent you and email re …. ” were flying between me “Mum” or “Mother” depending on circumstances and “Amy” or DAUGHTER” depending on my mood. Often texts would start “Are you awake…?”.
But we need not have worried. We were allowed into the function room early in the morning, so that’s just where we were, setting up display boards, arranging the prizes for the prize draw, displaying the art for the art auction, Amy added some final touches as well, like adding confetti and sweets (nice touch I thought) to the tables. Then later in the morning we collected the balloons to add to the Tables.
And then .. just before 1.30 p.m. people started to arrive, the room was transformed as people took their seats and the entertainment began.
Andy Maxwell was the DJ, compare for the afternoon and later the auctioneer for the Art Auction. He started by introducng Amy, who welcomed everyone and told them a bit about Amy’s HOPE 20 and what we hoped to achieve. Amy then handed over to the Four Seasons Choir, who at Amy’s request sang songs from the 40s. Just as they finished Jamie performed some table magic for many of the guests – I don’t think he managed to get to all of the tables.
The afternoon tea was then available from the adjoining bar. This was a lovely spread of sandwiches, sausage rolls, crisps, scones jam and cream and delicious victoria sandwich. There were flasks of tea and coffee. Everyone helped themselves to the food and drink and posted their entrance ticket into a “Post Box” to be drawn out towards the end of the afternoon.
At 3.00 p.m. Justin took to the stage and sang a number of songs, including “Here I am with you”, “Cathy’s Song”, “She’s Always a Woman”, “I’m Yours” and finished with “You Raise Me Up”. He did an amazing job and numerous people commented afterwards about how beautifully he sang.
The Joker and the King followed. They sat on the edge of the stage, sang a number of their own songs whilst playing acoustic guitars. They gave a relaxed and chilled performance. Thank you to you both for playing for us – and to Jamie for the table magic earlier in the afternoon. The Joker and the King (Mike and Jamie) have a CD available, which we can recommend, so if anyone would like to buy a copy, please contact us and we’ll pass your details on to them.
The Art Auction came next. We had 21 items donated by family, friends and colleagues. The auction was good fun, with Andy, wearing his auctioneer hat encouraging people to bid and sometimes bidding himself!! The auction made an incredible £240.00. Thank you to everyone for their generosity.
Clarinet Surprise then followed. This was provided by Frank on both the Clarinet and then the Bass Clarinet. He played “When the Saints Come Marching In”, “Mud, Mud Glorious Mud”, “The Teddy Bear’s Picnic”, and “Stranger on the Shore”. He was also accompanied by his wife, Hazel on her Pink Ukele for “When I’m 65”. Thank you to you both for entertaining us and supporting our event.
Unfortunately, the next scheduled act didn’t appear – so we moved on to …
The Prize Draw, The first prize was £100, plus we had numerous prizes donated by local businesses. These included New Forest Parks Association (2 Group tickets for the New Forest Bus Tour), Hall and Woodhouse (£50 voucher), Jumbo House Chinese Takeaway (£20 voucher) Maddy Moos of West Totton (2 x £10 vouchers), Paulton’s Park (2 Adult Tickets), Pyramids Centre (Family Pass), Golden Acres Garden Centre (£10 voucher), Stewarts Garden Centre (£15 voucher), New Forest Wildlife Centre (1 Family of 4 and 2 Adult Vouchers). We also had donations from Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Bradbeers, as well as donations from a number of family and friends. Thank you to everyone, both those who donated and those who bought tickets. The draw made a substantial contribution towards the funds we raised.
The entry tickets had earlier been placed into a “Post Box”. The Lyndhurst Park Hotel had kindly donated a prize of An Overnight Stay for two, with Breakfast. Ticket Number 59 was the lucky winner. They will be able to stay at Lyndhurst Park Hotel at a date chosen by them anytime before the 23rd December 2014.
The final performance was given by the New Forest Rock Choir. Members had been arriving earlier in the afternoon and disappearing off into a room ajoining the room we were using, where they rehearsed right up until their performance. When it was their turn to take to the stage it was amazing to watch as around 30-40 of them as they just kept appearing from the side room. They filled the floor in front of the stage. Jenny their conductress, has amazing energy and enthusiasm as she encourages everyone with both actions as well as the songs. Their performance included “Proud”, “Something Inside so Strong”, “Someone Like You”, “Just the Way you Are” and their final song, “Dance with Me Tonight” included hand jive. Thank you to Jenny and all of her members for giving up their time to entertain us and support our cause.
Actually, THANK YOU to all of the entertainers – without you we wouldn’t have been able to put on this event. And thank you to everyone who bought tickets and came along.
We are pleased to say that our fundraising, after expenses have been paid totals just over £2,500.
At the Afternoon Tea, as well as receiving money from ticket sales, prize draw tickets and the art auction we also received £66.76 in the collection tins, a £51.80 donation from the Yoga Class of one of our supporters, and approximately £15 from sales of Myasthenia Gravis promotional items.
Amy will be presenting cheques to “The Myasthenia Gravis Association (Hampshire Branch)” and “Stanley Graveson Ward” in the very near future and we’ll let you all know when this happens.
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