Rain didn’t stop play!

Raising funds for Marie Curie at the Prestige Dental Tea Party.

Despite the wet weather, the spirit of generosity was high at our annual fundraising event for Marie Curie. Held every year outside in Paul Martin’s beautiful gardens, preparations get underway weeks beforehand. From gardening, to baking, collecting prizes, ticket sales, washing crockery and cake stands, cleaning and transporting chairs, tables and gazebos – the list is a very, very long one of things to do.

We always hope for good weather but there is never any guarantee. And this year was a case in point with wet weather forecasted and arriving just in time for our first guests! Fortunately, most braved the rain, coming equipped with ready smiles, coats and brollies as they made their entrance via the tombola stacked high with prizes and a cake stand full of delicious goodies. The crew of helpers had been hard at preparations for most of the morning and then were launched into quickly showing guests to their tables, packing up cakes boxes of take home treats and engaging guests in an array of fun party games – all accompanied by our wonderful swing singer – Rob Keen. He joins us every year, really setting the scene for a wonderful afternoon with a fabulous collection of past and present sing along tunes.

We also welcomed Kayleigh from the Marie Curie Hospice in Bradford where all our donations go. www.mariecurie.org.uk/services/hospices/bradford She reminded us just how important every penny raised is that goes towards providing vital care and support for those in need, and how it makes a very real difference to many. And this year we also made sure it was waste not want not, with any left over food. We always over rather than under cater for our guests, so it really was the icing on the cake to be able to donate what had been left to our local food bank. It was a simple thing to do to pack up the remaining food and deliver it the next morning. They were so grateful it made you realise how difficult life can be for others in so many different ways and we were delighted to be able to help.

So its a heartfelt thank you to everyone who braved the rain, donated, and volunteered. This comes particularly from Lucy who has always been the driving force behind this amazing event which has gone from strength to strength over the years. Together, we proved that even a little wet weather can’t dampen our enthusiasm to help others – we’ll be releasing the amount raised very soon!