• 11 internal stalls: four children's stalls (Bric-A-Brac, Tombola, Biscuit decorating & Face painting), Books, Friends of Throwley Church, Tombola, Plants, Bottles, Local Produce (for the first time), Bric-A-Brac.  A very big thank you to all who prepared and run the stalls!

• Six external stalls: Suchana, ice cream, fudge, old engines, merry-go-round, St John Ambulance.

• Fun not just for children: Races, Coconut Shy, Greasy Pole, Pony Rescue, Pets Corner with beautiful rabbit, lambs and chicken.

• Annual Throwley Cup for Tug of War Challenge, donated anonymously, won by our team.

• Many great raffle donations from local businesses/companies, total value exceeding £1000.

• Live band matching the fete theme during the fete; excellent local band in the evening.

• Great BBQ run by our volunteers during the fete and tasty Corinne's evening cuisine.

• Tea Room was very busy due to relatively cold weather.

• Bar was well supplied with quality wines, local beer, and tropical cocktails.

• We have made great effort to publicise the Fete by directly distributed leaflets (two sets), emails, posters, in local press and Parish Magazine, local websites, road signage.  That paid back well.

• Car park was full – more people came from outside than ever.  Over 170 programmes were distributed, typically one programme per group.  We can estimate that about 400 people attended the fete.

• We have also mobilised 90 volunteers from the village, i.e. 35% of Throwley population.

• We had good financial results, raising £2,673 in profit.  That was despite cold weather and rain from 4 pm. It could have been £3,426 if we had not introduced the tropical band during the day and snacks & drinks for setup and clearing teams.  For details, see the financial report.

• We had a completely new Fete Committee and many things could have gone wrong.  They have not because we had an excellent and fully dedicated team of friends who were willing to work hard.

• We had a lot of positive feedback and also some suggestions for improvements.

 

WHAT WORKED WELL

• Involvement and enthusiasm of so many people, before, on the day and after; when needed people were ready to step in and help.

• Everything worked to the plan but the weather - we had to cancel few competitions later in the day.

• We started with a little knowledge but we learnt and captured our experiences for others - our notes, plans, publicity, etc. are available in paper and e-format.  We could extend our adverts through other parish magazines, like Sheldwich/Selling.

• As promised we all had a lot of fun; it changed our lives, we experienced great people and made new friends for life.

 

IMPROVEMENTS REQUIRED

• Look after stall holders better - start the BBQ at 12 o'clock and offer the food at a cost level, then free coffee/tea later.

• More people needed for the Tea Room. Set up a ‘rota’ similar to the Bar arrangements.  Set up a group of volunteers acting as ‘floaters’ ready to step in and help where there is a need.

• Problems with water heater - we need two new devices to replace the broken ones.  Mr&Mrs Ben Wright kindly donated their water heater, therefore only one device will be purchased.

• Bar consumption strongly depends on the weather, so for beer barrels a sale or return contract is needed.

• Put ‘Announcements & Control Centre’ and the band together for better co-ordination.

• Ask external contributors for their electrical requirements in writing before electric installation is scheduled.  In addition the form will ask for other requirements like number of tables, chairs and cash float (internal stalls only).

• A detailed list of suggestions regarding improvements to electrical equipment has been provided by Clive Gill.

• Purchase of additional stall type gazebos for stalls like BBQ, books, children’s was proposed for consideration. Mr&Mrs Steve Hadlow kindly donated their gazebo which was already used at the Fete for the band and evening catering.

• We need to reconcile the Fete insurance with both Throwley Parish Council and Parochial Church Council insurences; consideration needs to be given to all village events.

• Dog owners should control their loved ones better.

• Sale of the Raffle and other tickets should cover the children’s corner.

 

FETE DONATIONS THIS YEAR

• At the public TEA meeting last November we agreed to continue the tradition to support the Throwley Church and to match last year contribution of £1,650 from the Fete 2013 profit.

• The Village Picnic at Belmont this Sunday - we are paying for the band.

• The remaining funds on TEA account are to cover the cost of the next year fete (about £4,300 based on this year’s fete expenditure) and other community events.  We are looking for new ideas and leads for them!