Family Barbecue

Yesterday, the Friends of the Elizabeth Bailey Field laid on a family barbecue with proceeds to the Shop at Strood Green. It was a lovely afternoon and many people turned up to support the event. The magnificent sum of approximately £400 was raised, which is a great boost to our funds. Many thanks for all the hard work to Paula, Debbie and Chris.
Our next and final fundraiser for this season is Teas on the Green on Sunday 24th August. All offers of cakes and help gratefully received.
See you there!!

Phew, what a scorcher!

We enjoyed a scorching afternoon at the Leigh Flower Show. It was a fabulous event, much bigger than the Brockham Village Fair and blessed with better weather. We did a good job selling fruit punch, organic apple juice, books new and old, local honey and oil. The hamper raffle was very popular, we're getting good at these! The prime motive for the event was to show our faces in Leigh as we will be the nearest shop for many of the residents there. We took around £190 as well, so more for the fund raising total.
We are going to whitewash the shop now and close on Thursdays. We all have holidays coming up and there is little left to sell anyway. Unfortunately the planning application for the extra space and the new shop front has been put back to the September planning meeting and so there is little more we can do until we hear the result of that. We will have to delay the building work as we cannot guarantee a successful outcome, but we will be lobbying hard.
So please bear with us if it looks like nothing is happening, as ever most of the work is going on behind the scenes.

Successful Village Weekend

We had a very successful day on the Green on Saturday. As always it was a great event organised brilliantly and well attended despite the threatening looking clouds.
We sold out of our stock of Pimms and lemonade and the hamper raffle was very popular. The strawberries and cream went well as did some of the sweets and local produce. Thanks to all those who helped and who came to visit us. We took over £550 on the day. We launched our 200 club, the first draw is scheduled to be made at our teas on the green on 24th August, so please contact us if you would like to buy a number. It's just £12.00 a year and every month you have a chance to win and twice a year there is the £200 prize up for grabs.
All the prizewinners from Saturday have been notified and a list posted on the shop window.
Next event is the Leigh Flower Show on Saturday July 26th, we'd love to see you there.

Strawberries and Cream on the Green

Look out for us on the Green this weekend, we've a prime spot in between the pubs, on Millionaires Row! We'll have lots to sell and plenty to occupy the children too. We're selling glasses and jugs of Pimms, bowls of scrummy strawberries and cream (thanks to Ashurst Farm), sweets, local produce and new books. You'll also be able to guess how many sweets there are in the jar, the name of the cuddly teddy and buy a ticket for our gorgeous hamper raffle as well as a number in our 200 club draw. Phew!! We're going to be very busy, let's hope the weather is glorious, well at least dry.
We were very sorry to have to cancel the New Orleans Night. It wasn't a decision we took lightly, but we just didn't have enough of an audience to make it profitable. We may try something later in the year.
We are going to be at Leigh flower show on July 26th. There will be a barbecue in the Elizabeth Bailey Field on August 16th. We will still be in the shop on Thursday evenings until the renovation works start, hopefully in August.
Hope you'll come and visit us at any or all of the above.

Fourth of July! Plus - some skills needed

The Committee have had their heads down a bit this week as we finish planning our 4th July event. The music should be good, the food great! and we have a good catalogue of promises now, including a Chocolate Ecstasy Tour and computer maintenance contracts, football party etc etc. So please get your tickets as soon as possible to help us organise the catering.
On another matter - we would like to hear from anyone interested in organising the publicity for our launch - newspapers, radio, etc. Also we would like to hear from anyone interested in sourcing equipment. We still need help on seeking grants as we are eligible for all sorts of public money.
Many hands WOULD make light work!

Our first target reached!

Good news on the fundraising front - we have definitely raised more than £20,000 in share sales, donations and small grants, so we are now eligible for our £20,000 match funding from the ViRSA CORE scheme. Now the committee has to complete the business plan and apply for the loan that is the other condition of the match-funding, so that we can have all funds ready to start renovations in mid-August. [As Mole Valley District Council planners wish our application for a new shop front and the extension into the room at the rear of the shop to go through the Planning Committee, and the earliest they can schedule is August, we have to wait to start work until that meeting is over.]
We are continuing with our fundraising efforts as we hope to invest as much of the loan as possible to keep our repayments to the minimum. SO we are steaming ahead with the 4th July fundraiser and we are getting quite a catalogue organised for our Auction of Promises!

June open morning

Our Open Morning on 7th June was a resounding success, taking over £700 gross and an additional £190 in shares and donations. The weather was perfect, the croissants, donated cakes and coffee were as good as last time - it all went swimmingly. it was great to see completely new faces and to find that the catchment area for the shop becomes ever bigger. Norbury Park Farm set up their stall and had a good tasting session - their new cheese, Dirty Vicar (!) (their adaptation of Stinking Bishop) was very successful.