Thank you to everyone who helped make the Toy Fair such a great success. After expenses over £1,100 was raised the bulk of which will be donated to the Epsom Methodist Church Development Appeal .
We also intend to make a donation to the Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust Neo-natal unit.
This will be in the region of £200 not for medical equipment but for a range of extras outside of the normal hospital budget.
Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust is a large acute Trust serving South West London and Surrey. It comprises two District General Hospitals, a dedicated Children’s Hospital and one supporting hospital.
The Trust provides services to local communities including the whole of the London Borough of Sutton and part of the London Borough of Merton; the Surrey Boroughs of Epsom and Ewell, Reigate and Banstead and Elmbridge, plus part of the District Council of Mole Valley.
Within this main area the Trust services approximately 650,000 people. It also provides medical care for a wider population particularly for certain specialist services. The Trust includes a dedicated Children’s Hospital with an accredited Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
We are really grateful to everyone who helped with the toy fair in which ever way large or small.
Thank you for your support!
Kathy Castledine, Heather Wright, Hillary Gudge
EMC TOY FAIR, 1.30PM-3.30PM
SATURDAY 6 MAY 2006
‘Wow’ was the first thing heard at the EMC Toy Fair this year when customers stepped into our trusty Church Hall at 1.30pm to find the biggest collection of toys, books, games and dressing up clothes seen outside of Hamleys!
The stalls were organised by type and consisted of donated toys ranging from electronic to cute and cuddly, cooking sets to pirate ships, as well as puzzles, tapes, games and a stall which seemed entirely devoted to glittery handbags…not to mention a ‘Guess the name of the Teddy’ stall, raffle and ‘Guess the number of sweets’ stand.
Many a nail was bitten before the Fair as the weather had been so changeable, so we were heartened to see a queue - in good weather – at 1.30pm full of people looking for a bargain. Alan Russell was our ‘bouncer and banker’ and kept everyone moving and well supplied with change.
It was decided that the best way to purchase was to give customers a black bin liner on entry which was filled from the stalls before proceeding to the ‘checkout’ – lines of tables and volunteers at the front of the hall who added up the cost and transferred paid-for purchases into a white bin liner. This system was a great success, with many positive comments at the door ‘What a good idea’ and ‘that makes things much easier, thank you’.
There was also a wonderful array of cakes, biscuits and refreshments available in the Lower Lounge which was extremely welcome to those cooling their feet after a hard afternoon’s bargain hunting.
There are a huge amount of ‘thank you’s to so many people who gave their time to this event, so my sincere apologies to anyone I have missed below. Obviously people who donated toys, those who helped collect and price everything the weeks and night before, those who were willing to store toys in garages and dining rooms and also to those who valiantly handed out leaflets at the Ebbisham Centre on the day. Thank you also to the ladies who ran the refreshments and everyone who donated cakes. In the hall it was wonderful to see not only the marvellous set of usual volunteers we are so lucky to have at EMC but also a few new faces mostly I think generated by Genesis and Little Monkeys.
The biggest thank you however goes to Kathy Castledine, Heather Wright and the rest of the organising committee who did the lion’s share of the organisation, and spent a huge amount of time ensuring that the event was a success.
The event raised over £1000, £200 of which has gone to the Neo Natal Unit at Epsom General Hospital with the remainder to the Development Fund. Help permitting, we hope to run the fair again next year.
Claudia Cartwright
Also a special thanks to Kathy for her leadership and coordination of this a new event in the life of EMC, well done to her and her team.
Plans are being discussed for a similar event in 2007 with a theme of nearly new toys and playground equipment.
The venue and day will be dependant on the progress of the rebuilding work at the Epsom Methodist Church, so look at the plans .....................here for this will be the splendid new facilities.
So watch this SPACE
