Saturday 15th March 2014.
Almost 200 revellers assembled at Thornton Hall for a scrumptious meal, sparkling chat, dancing to Dave Bladen disco and amateur band ‘The Spangles’.
Generous donations of wine bottles and chocolates raised over£1,000 in the raffle. The auction of 13 widely differing items from friends and local business’, produced slightly more.
Overall the evening swelled the charity coffers by about £5,500, just short of half of our costs for this season. As from September we are taking on more staff, opening another classroom and implementing a wage rise, so our commitment will soon rise to £15,000 per annum.
We highlighted during the evening the generous support by ‘The Beers Group’, their staff and suppliers to under-right the cost of our proposed new classroom – work will begin on the construction next month (April).
Our guests Tom & Dave, Apache helicopter pilots from the Army Corps, Hampshire, are undertaking the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Rowing Challenge, December 2015; 3,000 nautical miles fom The Canaries to Antigua, raising money for OAKS. Look out for their website being launched hopefully before the end of the summer, entitled, Atlantic Drifters.
It’s hoped they’ll be able to bring their race rowing boat to Chester Rowing Club next year, dependent on tide and also include Neston Army Cadets.
They are considering a ’Rowathon’. Organising teams to ‘row the Atlantic’ in the gym. Any volunteers?
Rob Benson, Inspired Online, is assisting the development of ‘Sponsor a Leaf’ using our logo ‘Heart and Hand’ for individuals and local business’ to sponsor our pupils, hopefully available in the not too distant future.
Thank you to our supporters who help us to educate almost 300 children in a deprived area of Sierra Leone.
Date for your diary, OAKS Spring Ball 2015 – Saturday 21st March @ Thornton Hall.
