Middle Rasen Charity Gala

Disposal of Middle Rasen Charity Gala Funds

At our last meeting we agreed to make donations to the following local groups:

Air Cadets

Community Spirit Magazine

M R Bowling Club

M R Guides: Rainbows; Brownies; Guides & Rangers

M R Methodist Church Boiler Fund

M R Playgroup

M R Village Hall

Rase WI

Salvation Army Food Bank

All the donations have been distributed except for one, hopefully this will have been given out by the time this magazine is published! Many thanks to everyone for their support, we wish all the above groups success for many years to come.

Anne, David, Dawn and Rodger .

Disposal of Middle Rasen (M R) Charity Assets:

Local groups interested in any of the equipment please contact us by e-mail anneandgeoff70@gmail.com (Please Note mrgala@btinternet.com is no longer in use)

Happy memories

It is with great sadness that the Gala Committee announce that they have reluctantly made the decision to discontinue the gala. This is mainly due to increased family commitments and some of us are getting older! We have had many enjoyable and fun times both organising and hosting the event on the day! We are so grateful to the local groups and clubs who supported us, all that baking, BBQs, refreshments, donations, loans of tables, tablecloths, pans and lot, lots more. Thank you to all the local businesses for the amazing raffle prizes they donated and to all those of course who bought the tickets! I should think it is a relief that we won't be ringing you up saying “do you think you can sell some raffle tickets for us?!!”

Thank you to Ron Myland for examining our accounts. We would like to give a huge round of applause to the local community for coming along in rain, sunshine and even roadworks to join in the fun! Thank you too for your generosity to local charities! Well done everyone!! We also hosted a Pre-gala Dinner every year and that was always an excellent night out with friends and neighbours. It was a bit of a surprise when David (a parish councillor no more) walked around the hall with a box on his head (a bit of a dramatic way to stop having his photo taken!) Whilst we will not be organising another dinner, there may be another group who might organise one, let's hope so!

Assets: The remaining money in the bank has been distributed amongst some local groups. The tangible assets will be donated to groups within the village, an inventory will be circulated in early September!

Middle Rasen Charity Gala Committee (retired August 2020)

GALA 2019 – Saturday 29 th June

Organising outdoor events in the UK can be fraught as there are no guarantees that we will get good weather, the reliability of companies delivering their equipment and of course people coming along to join in the fun?? This year we managed 1 out of the 3! Instead of the threat of rain we got some very hot sunshine where people were advised to stay in out of the sun, on gala day, can you believe it? A big disappointment for the children and their parents was the absence of the Climbing Wall, as once again it was in for repairs, sorry about this, but it was completely out of our control and sorry that at such short notice we couldn't get anything to replace it. Despite all this we had a wonderful day, the crowds came with some not staying as long as they usually do because it was so hot. Refreshing cold drinks and lots of ice creams were served, the hot dogs and beef burgers went down well. Competition was fierce on the Golf Dartboard with Pete Dawson taking 1 st place adults and Max Anderson took 1 st place in the juniors with an amazing score of 200! The Shuffleboard was busy, with Julia Weeks winning the adults section and Charlotte Heatlie taking 1 st place for juniors, well done! Brian Hellyer was magnificent taking on the role of compere as well as his amazing magic throughout the day; the children loved his magic show. The coconut shy was very busy and to make sure all the children got a coconut they could also win one on Spin the Wheel. The Fun Dog Show saw 34 canines enter the different classes. Brambell, a Cockerpoo, took first place in 3 classes and won the Best in Show. The children's races were good fun where they ran a mix of novelty races and with parents joining in with their children on the last race, well done mums and dads! The Village Hall bottle stall soon sold out, the cakes seemed to disappear very quickly, wonder if that was something to do with the magician? Overall it was a lovely fun day enjoyed by everyone who came along and joined in with everything. Also, many, many thanks to all the volunteers and helpers and donations of cakes and raffle prizes.

A list of the winning ticket numbers is on our website, middlerasengala.weebly.com

We look forward to seeing everyone next year, dates of the Volunteers Thank You Party, Pre-Gala Dinner and Gala 2020 to be announced.

Anne Crawforth

Pre-Gala Dinner Raises Funds For Defibrillator! Saturday 27th April 2019 at Middle Rasen Village Hall 7 pm for 7.30 pm.

Once again there was great support for this very popular, annual fundraising dinner. Guests were greeted with the wonderful mouth-watering aroma of food cooking in the ovens, beautifully laid tables and lovely table floral arrangements. David (compere for the evening) asked for people who preferred not to be photographed to let him know. As it is difficult sometimes to exclude people from photos David had hatched a “cunning plan” to ensure privacy. Check out the photos in the C Spirit Magazine!

The meal was a hit with everyone, cottage pie and mixed vegetables served with lashings of delicious gravy, followed by a fresh fruit salad served in martini glasses with a side of dainty biscuits and cream. The quiz was won by The Village Hall & Parish Council table wining a box of chocolates. The ‘heads and tails' game, a first for the dinner, was won by the Carry on Singing table, winning an Easter egg. Harmony played an eclectic mix of music with people joining in singing along with songs they knew. All in all, a fabulous night out with a wonderful atmosphere in the hall, with lots of laughter and fun. Our grateful thanks to Maureen Williams for the delicious cottage pies, Mark for donating the potatoes and the committee for the fruit salads. Thanks to David, Dawn, Enid, Karen, Rosie, Valerie and Yvonne for their very efficient service. Many thanks to Rose and Berry for their donation of a fruit basket for the raffle, thanks to everyone else who also donated raffle prizes.

The money raised at the dinner will go towards Village Hall funds and the cost of a defibrillator to be sited at the Village Hall on an outer wall. As we qualified for funding from WLDC Community Defibrillator Scheme we only need to contribute £400 in match funding for the defibrillator, thanks to the generosity of people supporting the dinner, buying raffle tickets, taking part in heads and tails we achieved our target of £400. Thank you! The defibrillator is due to be fitted mid to the end of May it should be in place by the time this issue is published. More information will follow about training and opportunities for further training with LIVES.

Finally, thank you for all the wonderful feedback, yes, we will be hosting a dinner in 2020, see you there.

Middle Rasen Charity Gala Committee

Middle Rasen Gala 2018

Thank You!

The organisers of Middle Rasen Charity Gala hosted an afternoon tea in recognition of the hard work by the helpers who came along on Gala Day to help serve refreshments, the BBQ, running stalls and games. Without the help from the local community it would be difficult to put on all the activities that the local community have grown to expect, so thank you! A warm welcome was given to the representatives from the Gala's two charities, Action for Children, and the Health Tree Foundation (Rear into Gear Appeal) when both charities were presented a cheque for £540.

Thanks to David for organising the Shuffleboard Competition after the tea, this was quite competitive with Carole, June, Eileen and Anne all scoring top marks of 6!!!!! At the “Shuffle Off” Anne won the competition with a top score of 7!!!

Our next event will be the Annual Gala Dinner on Saturday 21st April 2019 at the Village Hall. Gala 2019 will take place on Saturday 29th June, see you there! Many thanks for the continued support of the Gala Dinner and the Gala.

We have some new resources that are all available for the local community to borrow: Coconut Shy; Shuffle Board and Spin the Wheel. For more information telephone 842099 or e-mail mrgala@btinternet.com

Middle Rasen Charity Gala Committee

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Arrangements for this year's Gala were going to plan until we were informed of the Flood Alleviation Scheme.

Like all other groups in the village, we were concerned about how it would impact on our event. Our concerns were allayed when we were assured by LCC that there would be access to Wilkinson Drive on Gala Day. Further reports from the Chair of the village hall committee updated us with progress from the weekly meetings held with the contractors. The day before the gala promises were made to remove some steel plates from the entrance to the field, fill the mudded area in with pebbles/stones and fence off the trench. None of this work was undertaken and when we attempted to drive to the hall on Friday evening, to our horror, we discovered that the road from the Market Rasen end was completely closed off, when we approached from Manor Drive there appeared to be more blocks and cones than ever and it did look as though there was no way through to Wilkinson Drive. This confusion clearly impacted on the footfall, which was less than previous years.

Despite the upheaval people did come along and support the Gala, there wasn't a crumb left on the cake stall, the refreshments and BBQ were well attended. The games were popular particularly the new ones, the Shuffleboard, Spin the Wheel and the Coconut Shy. All these games can be used by the local community, note BYOC (buy your own coconuts). The children enjoyed the bouncy castle, the slide and the Freebound Course. Amazingly the children did well in their races considering the lanes were marked out like dogs hind legs! Proud dog owners put their pooches through their paces in the agility course and Fun Dog Show. Lincoln Ukulele Club were so jolly with their lively music and singing. Brian Hellyer was very entertaining with his amazing magic tricks, the children were spellbound during the magic show – shame he couldn't magic the road works away.

A big thank you to all the volunteers for their hard work, thanks to retailers for supporting us either with raffle prizes or coming to the Gala. Thank you to Middle Rasen Community Fund, Middle Rasen Parish Council, Tesco Cash for Bags and the Co-op for their support.

Dates of the Volunteers Party and the Gala 2019 to be announced.

Please go to our website for details of the winning raffle tickets. Gala Web Site

Middle Rasen Charity Gala Committee

The Gala supports a variety of charitable activities ............

"A Taste Of Lincolnshire" April's Gala Dinner

Another enjoyable and excellent evening at the Middle Rasen Charity “A Taste of Lincolnshire” dinner, embracing everything Lincolnshire from the flowers, quiz, food and entertainment. It was a fun evening bringing the community together, whilst raising funds for the two chosen Lincolnshire charities, which this year are Action for Children and the Health Tree Foundation.

The committee were pleased to welcome a representative from ‘Action for Children', who gave a brief insight into the aims and actions of the Charity. Thanks must go to the organisers and everybody who came and supported the successful evening.

The Gala committee looks forward to your continued support on Saturday 22nd September when the 7th annual Gala (more fun for all the family, dogs included!) will be held at the Village Hall, so please make a note on your calendars when it is hoped to raise more funds for the two chosen charities.

Middle Rasen Charity Gala Committee

WHEN MIDDLE RASEN CHARITY GALA CALLED FOR VOTES

In 2017 Middle Rasen Charity Gala was bidding to bag a massive cash boost from the Tesco Bags of Help initiative. Tesco teamed up with Groundwork to launch its community funding scheme, which sees grants of up to £ 4,000, up to £ 2,000 and £ 1,000 raised from carrier bag sales in Tesco stores awarded to local community projects. Each year three groups in every Tesco region will be shortlisted to receive the cash award and shoppers are invited to head along to Tesco stores to vote for who they think should take away the top grant. www.tesco.com/bagsofhelp .

Voting was open in Tesco store throughout March and April. Customers cast their vote using a token given to them at the check-out in store each time they shop. Tesco's Bags of Help project has already delivered over £ 40 million to 9,700 projects up and down the UK. Tesco customers get the chance to vote for three different groups every time they shop. Every other month, when votes are collected, three groups in each of Tesco's regions will be awarded funding.

Alec Brown, Head of Community at Tesco, said: "There are some fantastic projects on the shortlists and we can't wait to see these come to iife in hundreds of communities." Groundwork's National Chief Executive, Graham Duxbury, said: "We've been thrilled to see the diversity of projects that have applied for funding, ranging from outdoor classrooms, sports facilities, community gardens, play areas and everything in between. We're looking forward to learning the results of the customer vote and then supporting each group to bring their project to life,"

Funding is available to community groups and charities looking to fund local projects that bring benefits to communities. Anyone can nominate a project and organisations can apply online

Resources bought through funding from Tesco Bags of Help will be available for use by all the groups in the village.