On Saturday 9th April 85 guests, the Lindfield Young Farmers Members, myself and D’Arcy Spice gathered in all our cowboy finery for a night of tasty food, good drink and dance to raise funds for St Peter & St James Hospice and the Rural Agricultural Benevolent Institution at Wivelsfield Village Hall.
The evening was a great success, if we do say so ourselves, with everyone full of smiles and laughter throughout the night. We had around ten dances that included do-si-do’s, galloping, swinging your partner and more, along with a couples dance and the Hokey Cokey! A huge thank you must go to D’Arcy Spice who, as always, played brilliantly and led us all through the dances with a welcoming, understandable and simple manner, encouraging all to take part!
We are proud to say we’ve raised £1048.44 for both of these worth charities and will be presenting them with cheques, as a Club, in the coming weeks!
Based just outside of Wivelsfield Green (the village of our Barn Dance Hall), St Peter & St James Hospice cared for 613 patients in 2014/15, all for free of charge, either at the Hospice or in the comfort of their own homes. They also provided counselling for 145 families following bereavements and this quote sums up everything: “She felt safe, loved and trusted all you did to make her comfortable. Thank you too for making us, her visitors, feel so welcome and cared for. With such care and wonderful surroundings, it certainly make a difficult time much easier for us…”
RABI stands for Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution and they are a welfare charity providing help to farming families in difficulty. The charity was set up in 1860 and they offer support in confidence, to all ages. Whether this is a one-off emergency grant or funding of disability equipment, relief workers, home care, or counselling. They have two residential homes and all their funding comes from donations, legacies, fund raising events and community groups. With the terrible flooding all over the country this Winter the RABI has been supporting families through funding and guidance.
Our members and our guests have had links with both of these charities over the years and both rely on donations, wills and fundraising to allow them to continue their brilliant work!
As Young Farmers we wanted to showcase local produce and were delighted to serve purely locally sourced goods to our guests. Here are the following suppliers we worked with and we would like to thank all of them for their generosity:
Bread & Puds: Fellows the Bakery, Ardingly
Cheese & Butter: High Weald Dairy, Horsted Keynes
Ham: Maria Naylor at Brookhouse Farm, Ridgewood, Uckfield
Scotch Eggs & Pork Scratchings: Denniker Farm Shop, Fletching
Salad: Quality Fruits, The Broadway, Haywards Heath
Condiments: Ouse Valley Foods, Piltdown
Ale: 360 Brewing Company, Sheffield Park
Cyder & Perry: Black Pig Orchard, Chelwood Gate
Help with the Bar kindly came from The Cock, Wivelsfield Green
The hay came from Tom Moon Contractors
The charity barn dance has become an annual event that I hold and while it is a lot of work to organise it is a pleasure to see everyone enjoying my hard work. I’d like to say a HUGE thank you to the Young Farmers for their help, especially Kat, Rosie, Sconaid, Freya, Jack, Ben, Chris and Chris for all their help prior to the night, Jo, Ree & Phil for their help in the kitchen, and everyone for their efforts on the night!
In addition, thank you to everyone who came along and supported the night, purchased raffle tickets and embraced the challenge of getting involved in barn dancing while raising funds for two very worth causes.
You can view all of the photos Georgia and myself took on the night here and I have a video coming in a few weeks! This has some hilarious footage on it, but in the meantime, any photo sales will contribute to the donation we will be giving to the two charities!
Remember to follow the dedicated page I have set up for the Night here and we look forward to welcoming you all once again next year!!
