2010 FUNDAY THANK YOU'S FROM JIM
Well, what a build up to the “fun day”, it was all coming together brilliantly. Everyone was doing their bit whether it was getting goods for the donation tombola, selling tickets for the main raffle, or working at the centre cleaning in preparation for the big day. Roy did a fantastic job with the leaflet dropping in the local area.
The new uniforms turned up on the Friday before, they were swiftly sorted and distributed by Nadine, and everyone looked so smart in theirs. In case anyone was wondering why we have changed the colour from green and yellow to blue it’s quite a good reason really. For years whenever we have been out in the green and yellow uniforms and we call into a garden centre or somewhere like that, we have always been asked “can you tell me where the roses are”, or “can I ask you about deliveries”. Well quite frankly, we got fed up with it, and if you look around you will see that nearly every garden centre, animal rescue, farm, zoo, and every tree surgeon and his uncles wear green and yellow, so we changed ours, we just hope the others don’t do the same!!
Anyway, back to the main event. The day was looming fast and people were starting to get excited/worried/....suicidal. Will and Sarah were doing fantastic things with the website what with banners, countdown timers and god knows what else. Pat was threatening everyone she knew what would happen to them if they didn’t donate something or buy a raffle ticket, (well...it worked!!) Janice running around like a lunatic, (one of the qualifications for volunteering at the centre) convincing businesses that they really need to give us something...anything, That also worked, either it was her charm or on hearing her accent they decided giving was better than receiving...a Glasgow Kiss is not something to be on the receiving end of...so I hear! But everyone worked so hard towards the day, Delia and I were astounded by the team effort and organising that the volunteers were doing and we cannot thank them all enough. I will try to mention as many as I can in this, but forgive me if I miss you out, it’s nothing personal, honest.
The dawn came; it was Sunday 16th May 2010. It came too quickly for Delia and me, 3 hours sleep....surely it’s not morning already, but yes it was. So we jumped out of bed and said “lets do this thing...”...well...actually...we fell out of bed and crawled downstairs to open the gate ready for the volunteers to turn up and get things ready. They again were amazing, they started rolling in and getting on with organising their stalls or areas they were responsible for. Brad and Laura cooked up breakfasts for anyone who wanted it, and they all did....bacon or sausage rolls, juice, tea, coffee, croissants, what a spread, just the thing to get everyone perked up for the day.
The garden was coming together, starting to look good with all the canopies in place, all the tables getting stacked and the sponsor/residents visiting area being readied. The weather was not looking great; forecast was for rain around midday just as we are due to open. Was that going to stop us? NO it was not. Laura in her white rabbit suit along with her friend Kat out the front to welcome the visitors, everyone in place, the refreshment area well stocked for either hot or cold weather, ready for Anne & Kim to handle the rush for the cakes, and last minute preparations were sorted.
Houston (Arundel Avenue!!) we have lift off.!!
In they came in their droves, and they kept coming all day long. We could not believe the amount of support we had from old friends, new friends, people who adopted animals from us years ago came back to support us. People who have never been to us came along because they heard about it, neighbours who had wondered what the hell went on at number 44 every blooming Sunday came along, and brought their friends. We could not believe they kept coming, the garden was close to bursting, in fact at one point I thought it had....then realised someone had spilt a drink down my back!!!! And boy was I relieved about that. But it was fantastic (not the spilt drink!!) what a day we were having, we did not even have time to think about how exhausted we all were, we were on a roll and the rollercoaster was not stopping for anyone...except Amba & Stan Wade. They wanted to make an announcement to everyone, Amba had secured a donation via her workplace for the rescue and read out a letter from their bunnies Roo & Freya to us telling all how she raised the money, and it was so sweet. The amount was over £1,700.....whoa....reality check...the rollercoaster started again, 0-60mph in 2.8 seconds and we were hanging on...just. What a fantastic thing to do for us, thank you so much guys.
Well everybody was selling things at a rate of knots (I think that means quite fast, sounds good so I used it!) All the raffle tickets were sold out 45 minutes before the end, well done Karen, all the toys gone off the cuddly toy tombola, Will & Helena had to keep restocking, the Bobtails bits & bobs stall was going great guns, (think that means fast too!)..Kyle & Helen were fleecing....sorry persuading people to buy on the way in and out, they were so pleased they cleared £100 in the first 30 minutes. The “on the day auction” was, was, was ............sorry, run out of phrases, but it was taking bids rather quickly if you ask me, (down to the Glasgow Kiss again!!). The games being run by “little Sarah” (who is probably as tall as me!!), Lorraine, Julie, Millie, Rosie & Xavier were doing a grand job. Georgie selling jewellery to the crowds massed around her stall, Lisa selling the plants. Alison & Tracey going great guns (where do I find these expressions?) on the animal equipment stall, Carol, Gina, Barry and Lisa (who will find any reason to wear her white rabbit outfit...hmmm...must ask Shaun about that one!!), ably assisted by one year old Daisy, who was distracting people enough to make them spend more while they were on the white rabbit stall. Graham with his fantastic pictures and cards was doing a roaring trade, (didn’t see any lion pictures!! Get it?) Oh well, suit yourself. Shirley helping Pat at the residents/sponsor area were drowning under a sea of people (sounds messy!!) at most points of the afternoon. Sarah “H” and Roy, on the donation tombola also had all but one prize won. Pam, Jono & Jordan were running around making sure all the stall holders were suitably fed & watered, which was a really important job as none of the volunteers seemed to want to leave their stall for a break! Talking of which, Kerri doing the face painting had a queue of eager kids (and adults) all afternoon, she worked so hard without a rest. Next time I will take over from her for a while so she can get a cuppa, I promise I will get a new roller & tray before then, a nice soft sheepskin one! I should get through a few faces in no time.
Nearly 4 o’clock and we were still buzzing, oops, found another one!! The sky was getting darker, nearly matching the shadows under my eyes but the crowds were still there. Not much left on the stalls now. “SELL IT CHEAP”, came Delia’s command, “JUST SELL IT CHEAP”, storage is an issue you see, thank goodness for “Big Yellow”, one of our sponsors, the unit is still virtually full but at least our loft and dining room, hall, lounge, and spare bedrooms are all empty now.
That’s it, it’s over. Time to get packed up, what do you mean people are still buying things? We need to sleep... must pack up...then I get into an argument with John Rapple, who along with his wife Julie had spent a fortune during the afternoon, over a huge cuddly toy rabbit he had been trying to win on the cuddly toy tombola, without success.” I’ll give you a tenner for it” he said, “what” said I, “take the flipping thing, you’ve spent enough already” “No” he insisted, “I’ll give you a tenner, I am not taking it for nothing”. “look “ says I “it means I haven’t got to store it somewhere” so I thrust it under his chin & said “now go home”, which he did with a huge grin on his face and his arms full of stuff they had bought.
About 7 minutes past 4 o’clock and the heavens opened, how lucky were we. The last people to leave made their way out and we could get packed up. All of us with stupid looks on our faces not being to believe how many people had come to the event. Just under 500 members of the public attended our 3rd Fun Day, Laura had a counter out the front and it actually showed 477, but some people came in before we opened and started counting. We had had such a fantastic day, everybody was exhausted, but on a high. Once things were away we ordered pizza for 30 and broke open the sparkling wine to toast ourselves on a job well done. One or two got a bit tiddly, (no names mentioned eh! Claire, damn...sorry didn’t mean to do that, delete buttons gone missing!!) But everybody was so pleased with how they all did, and so they should be. Every volunteer worked so hard to make the day the success it was, they all need a pat on the back, (hang on....we’ve only got one Pat.....have to take it in turns I suppose!)
Seriously though folks, a HUGE, HUGE THANK YOU to all of you that supported us on the day and have done so in the past, we could not do this without you, you are all stars.
The animals all thank you.
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EWELL VETERINARY CENTRE
