Donna Louise Party yesterday

Yesterday – Saturday – we held our much planned garden party and it must be said, in beastly weather.

After rising very early that day to get all prepared, I thought we might have a chance of a good day only to have that optimism dashed.

But on I went; signing the car park; decorating with festive balloons; buying 20 punnets of strawberries; milks; lemonades; Pimms. All the trimmings. Tea, coffee, butter, strawberry jam et all.

And the very thing we had no control over – the weather – hit our day with a fine drizzle from 10.00am on. So sad that this awful English weather set out to defeat our efforts to raise awareness of this wonderful children's hospice and to raise much need funds for the noble cause.

As it happened, we did have a goodly number of very stalwart and generous supporters here to rummage and buy at the eight stalls set up here in my garden.

We, in the event, raised just a few coin short of £500 – a surprising sum in such poor weather.

Our very sincere thanks to all those who made that possible. To Ann Pearson and her kitchen team of Janice Spibey, Pete Webb and Susan Poole. To Olive & Geoff Stretch for their great raffle result. To Monique Hollinshead for running the well visited Pimms bar (with a well laced cocktail). To John Hardy and Back Row for their fine music. To Ian Jones, Neil MacGowan, Neil Goodyear, Helen Dunlop and her birthday Bunny and the Music Festival team in setting up the marquees. To Rodney & Christine Cottrell for the tables, chairs and The RNLI stall.

A prime example of just what a fine community spirit we have in most folks hereabouts. And a very sincere thank you to those who managed to come here for what was a typical English Saturday – albeit damp!. A true mark in memory of May Hunter.

Ralph Warburton & Jon Cooke
The Audlem Friends of Donna Louise

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