It was a right good knees up at the St Andrews ceilidh in support of the St Nicholas church tower fund raising effort. The venue was the hall at Thamesmead and the event was fully sold out. Experienced Scottish dancers and complete novices alike took to the dancefloor accompanied by the Jigalots band. The caller got everyone moving in harmony (or utter chaos in some cases!). Such a lot of fun was had. There was also a raffle with donated prizes.
An additional draw was the whisky tasting. 6 different Scot-tish whiskies were on offer for a modest donation of £1 per dram or £5 per glass. Snacks were provided by volunteers.
All in all it was a tremendous success and the crowds left asking when the next dance was going to be put on.
Fund raising is going well. The Winter Fair was well attended and the raffle prizes proved popular. The committee would like to thank Blue, Daines and Gray, The Holiday Inn, King’s Head, Quality Fruit, The Red Lion, Shepperton Homecare, Sunbury Golf Club and The Warren Lodge for their generous donations.
With these two events and previous initiatives, the team is about 25% of the way to their £200,000 goal. Forthcoming events include a concert by the Ashford Orchestra at the church on 29th January, a Quiz Night and supper at the Parish Centre on 18th February and an opera evening planned at the church in March (TBC). There are also a range of additional concerts and raffles / auctions in the planning stages at the moment. Watch this space.