Carol Singing Around The Village
On Thursday 22nd December 2011, Gloria rallied the troops for Carol Singing and twelve of us set out with music sheets at the ready, touches at hand and collection buckets in arms.
We headed out down Church Street and back up Mill Road. We dropped off at the Crown (only to sing) where Sue the Landlady kindly let us sing a Carol and collect donations from her customers. We then travelled through The Green and Chapel Row. People were very generous and enjoyed our performance (well, they seemed as if they did). After a couple of hours we were welcomed for refreshments at Blood Stock Barn and greeted with delicious eats and mulled wine - a very welcoming treat. Our singing managed to raise a total of £160.
Ashley Christmas Party at the Pavilion
Ashley Fund Raisers put on a very festive Christmas Party for the village on Saturday 10 December 2011. It would have been good to have had more revellers to join in the fun but those of us who were there had a great evening with a Raffle and a Quiz, tinsel and streamers (thank you to the two tall men), table decorations and delicious food (thank you mostly to Gloria) and, by popular request, the return of The Sumthin Difrent Disco with Steve Driver who once again played a perfect selection of music and kept us amused with his brand of humour and witty repartee.
The star turn was the two 10 year-old twins who performed as Orange Label; they gave us a couple of Christmas Carols and were rewarded for their trouble with oversized Santa Cowboy hats. Incidentally they are multi-talented, being part of the winning Quiz team.
The older ones amongst us threw caution to the winds and responded to the music from the ‘60s and ‘70s with appropriate (or maybe not) gyrations. There were some stiff backs and knees the following day. The evening was rounded off by a Conga followed by Auld Lang Syne – we really didn’t want it to end.
The next day the Fund Raisers and Friends gathered for a Christmas lunch at The Kentford Cock; this was another of Gloria’s brainwaves, where would we be without her. 'Thank You' Gloria.
Alison Pascoe 12/12/2011
Christmas Food Hamper Raffle
A BIG THANK YOU to all of the people at the Welcome Party at the Crown Pub on Sunday 4th December 2011, who in total, bought £61 worth of raffle tickets for the Christmas Food Hamper and to everyone else in the village that bought them too.
The lucky winning ticket was drawn by Kerry at the shop, who pulled out Barbara and Tommy's ticket that they had purchased at the Crown. The Raffle raised a total of £294.
Cake Stall
Although it was a bitter cold morning, the Ashley Fund Raisers braved the weather and set up the cake stall outside Ashley Stores dressed in their Father Christmas flashing hats. We sold lot's of cakes and Hamper raffle tickets in the few hours we were there, and some of the villagers very kindly brought cakes along that they had made for us to sell. We had a few cakes left at the end but these were taken along to other charity events taking place for Christmas. The Cake Stall raised a total of £195.
The Raffle, Cakes & Carols raised a grand total of £649
At the end of 2011, all monies raised through a mixture of fundraising activities throughout the year, has been donated to the following charities:
East Anglian Air Ambulance £550.00 - St Mary’s Fabric Fund £200.00 - St Nicholas Hospice £350.00
Thanks again to everyone who supported us - we look forward to your continued support thoughout 2012
A Happy New Year to you all!
Charity Jumble Sale - 31st March 2.00pm at the Pavilion. If you have any unwanted items, please don't throw them away. Let us know and we can arrange collection from you. Call Pauline on 730219, Gloria on 730932 or Pat on 730076.
Cake Stall - Saturday 5th May to raise funds for urgent repairs to St Mary's Church Ashley. More information on this at a later date.
Charity Race Night - Saturday 20th October at the Pavilion. More information on this at a later date.
Carol Singing Around the Village - Thursday 20th December, weather permitting. More information on this at a later date.
Ashley Village Christmas Party - Saturday 8th December at the Pavilion. More information on this at a later date
