This year saw the return of the Scarecrow Festival at Harpole which Breast Friends Northamptonshire have had a presence at for a number of years.
This year was particularly poignant as it was the first one since the passing of Evelyn Robinson – our staunch supporter and organiser of the stall for many years, these were big shoes to fill – we hope we did you proud!
Each year there is a cake stall and a tombola, this year it was joined by a Koalabola which was a great hit and loved by all the children and the majority of the adults too! The stall is manned by volunteers from our BFN Community plus some friends and family members so everyone on the stall has a close affinity with the Charity and has had first-hand experience of the support it provides. It was fabulous to see so many volunteers – everyone there worked like trojans and did a sterling job – so thank you to each and every one of you.
Saturday dawned and it was a fabulously sunny day, the gazebo was erected, cakes laid out, tombola tickets folded, prizes displayed, there were even dog biscuits and water for our four-legged friends – a masterstroke as when a dog stops for a drink you can’t just walk by! Genius!
To say our stall was busy is an understatement, it was non-stop all day. The cakes (all donated) were flying off the table, stocks were being replenished every half an hour, the Tombola was an absolute hive of activity and the excitement generated by the Koalabola was palpable with all the children so excited when they won. In fact, by 4.00 pm the huge box of Koalas had all gone to new homes.
Sunday was more of the same, more sunshine, more lovely volunteers, and more money raised for what we (modestly) think is an outstanding Charity. Over the two days, we raised a fantastic total of £1510.83 with some possible fund matching to come from Nationwide!
A special thanks go to Sarah Cooke (Evelyn’s daughter) who was stationed on hand in the garage for the whole two days, labelling up tombola prizes, plating up cakes and organizing the whole event, a truly tremendous effort. All in all, the whole event was such an uplifting experience, lovely to meet up with other volunteers but also lovely to see families being able to get together at last and supporting not only BFN but the Harpole Scarecrow Festival too – really looking forward to next year for another joyous occasion.