Auction of Promises

Posted on February 1, 2006

Cast your minds back to 2004. The funding for Stage One of the Village Hall refurbishment was nearing completion - £150,000 had been raised or promised. Step forward a small party of 5 Gallant Idiots ("GIs") with those reckless words "no problem, we will start to raise money for Stage Two" (new toilets, disabled toilet, baby changing facilities and new meeting room).

Well, there we were, and here we still are, and so far we have raised £18,500! You will have seen many articles and adverts in Focus telling you how this has been achieved, but actually, it ALL comes back to the generosity of YOU.

The group have also been ably helped by the benevolance of the Village Carnival Committee, who made us their major recipient in 2004, and by The Villagers, who have organised two major events for the benfit of the hall, the last being the ball held on 10th December 2005, which was a great success. Thank you to the 'old codgers' (you guys can sue me for defamation, but I am as old as some of you and definately more codgery than most of you anyway!).

With only 5 and sometimes 6 "GIs" we thought, "how could we lighten the load?" You see we are not really that stupid. Ha! A flash of brilliance came upon one of the "GIs" (well he was seen to move): "why not get some help from other organisations in the village?" Thus, two years ago, we approached the Village School, to arrange an Auction of Promises. Hey presto 5 "GIs" joined by some young parents from the Home School Association (HSA), thus reducing the average age by half, set about organising this very successful event.

Fast-forward to 2006, and... well you can guess the rest can't you. The School want to improve the outdoor facilities for the children and we still need toilets for the hall. What an emotive combination! So here we go again with another Auction of Promises. Friday March 31st 2006 is the date, and the venue is the Village Hall!

We have some superb Promises to Auction, including a Helicopter Flight with Mike Smith; yes the same Radio 1 DJ and Telvision presenter who married Sarah Greene and broke many a heart of men of a certain age! Who likes Pink Floyd? We have some memorabilia signed by drummer Nick Mason. Someone going to a wedding? Well why not get that special hat made especially for you in the style and colour of your choice: not only will it save you money, but think how happy hubby will be not having to visit 20 shops just to find the right colour! Interested in your family tree? Then let an expert help you. Want to hold a dinner party, but want someone else to do all the hard work? Then come along and bid for it, have a great time, and help TWO worthy causes.

For any further information or to buy tickets, contact Eaton Bray Lower School on 220468.

Source: Focus, February 2006