Dear Friends ,

Since our last newsletter in August we have held two further events , both of which proved to be very successful and well supported . On Saturday 14^th. September we held another of our ever popular quiz nights , hosted as always by Robin Storkey and his lovely assistants . On the night there were about 80 contestants in teams of four or more and a great time was had by us all . It is amazing how much useless information we all have tucked away in the backs of our minds !!! The gross takings on the evening , including a good raffle , were £335. After expenses of the fish & chips etc. were deducted we raised £151.25 on the evening .

On Saturday 12^th. October we had a rather different event – our Antiques Valuation Fayre in the Rifers Hall . On the day our 8 experts saw 120 “customers” and gave their opinions on 190 items and , just like the T V programme , there were quite a few surprises . The refreshments were well received and were made by Jo and Caroline , two of our newer committee members . The organisation of the event went very smoothly and was as a result of good planning by Brian McCansh . Total funds raised at the event were £257.75 from which only £40 has to be deducted for hall hire. Another successful event for all who attended .

Our next event is our long awaited RACE NIGHT to be presented by Peter Blanks and his lovely wife , Valerie , and to be held on Saturday 23^rd. November at the Rifers Hall in the village . Doors open at 6.30 pm and the first race will start at 7.00 pm promptly . Tickets should be bought from the Hospice shop beforehand and demand is forecast to be good so do not wait too long before you buy your tickets . The cost will be £5.50 for the evening including a chicken and chips supper or £6.00 to include a fish and chips supper . Numbers of fish and chip suppers are strictly limited so do not be disappointed if you prefer this to chicken and chips . You can “buy” a horse on the night , or beforehand from Michael Bungard , for £2.00 . “Owners” of winning horses have the privilege of “riding” their horse on the evening and , if it wins , winning a valuable (?) trophy and a bottle of wine . Winning horses will be entered in the final “all winners” race where the prize is a bottle of champagne !! If you wish to have a drink during the evening , please bring your own liquid refreshments . Please also bring your own cutlery , but salt and vinegar will be provided for you . Do not forget , please get your tickets early to avoid disappointment as this is always a “sell-out” event .

Following the Race Night , our final event for this year will be our CHRISTMAS FAYRE which is being held , as usual , in the Village Hall on Saturday 7^th. December with the doors open for guests at 10.00 am  We would like this to be as successful as always and to help us we would ask you to look in your cupboards and drawers to see what items you no longer have a use for . We are , as always , desperate to have items to include in our sale and for good or new items to include in our raffle . We will also be having a hamper raffle and if you have any items suitable to be included in our hamper of goodies please also bear this in mind . For raffle prizes please contact Michael Bungard and for items for sale please contact either Brian McCansh or any other member of the committee . We are looking for lots of cakes to sell and if you can help in this direction please contact Dorothy Fenwick . We are hoping to have a special “arts and crafts” stall this year and if you feel that you have anything to contribute to this please contact either Jo Ward or Caroline Crocker . Finally our begging bowl would be helped if you have any items that could be included in our Tombola , e.g. tins ; bottle ; packets of sweets or biscuits etc. Obviously , anything donated should be in date.  

Our 100 club winners for the past two months are as follows :-

September :-                                        October :-

32      B. Watts           £  98.75              226      P. Mills     £100.10
273    A. Kingsbury      £  28.50               15      E. Sproat     £  28.60
164    R. Bungard       £  14.25               162      J. Farebrother   £  14.30 

If you would like, or know anyone else who would like, another number please let Michael Bungard know and have your/their name put on the waiting list as there are usually quite a number of vacancies that occur during the heavy renewal period of January/February and we would like to keep the numbers up as high as possible .