Music in the Meadow - a fantastic success

What a fantastic success Music in the Meadow proved to be on Saturday evening with five bands offering a variety of music from R & B to Beatles to folk music - there was something to suit everyone’s taste, and the sun shone! For the first time in four years we had not one drop of rain which made all the difference to the enjoyment of the event and at one point hundreds of guests were dancing in front of the stage having a ball.

We had acquired hundreds of prizes for the tombola and people were rewarded with armfuls of prizes, much to their great delight. Companies like M& S, Co-op, John Lewis, Goldsmiths, Christopher Ward (the luxury watch maker) plus loads more had donated prizes.

Everyone enjoyed drinking Pimms in the sunshine and having their individual parties and picnics with the friends they had brought along. It was an amazing atmosphere.
One of the highlights of the evening was the drawing of the Mega Raffle. Of the fifteen prizes to be won, seven of them were won by people at the event but the winners spanned the country from Rochdale, down to the south coast. It has been great fun calling the remaining winners to tell them of their good fortune!
When I rang the winner of the top prize on Sunday morning and told her that she had won a week’s holiday for two people including flights and accommodation in a 4-star hotel, she cried with joy.

We still have a few of the winners to contact as I think they must be holiday and I can’t wait to tell them their good news.

Of course we mustn’t forget why we held the event. Steps education centre in Shepshed, Leics. will receive 70% of the proceeds and Matt Hampson, the young rugby player who suffered a severe neck injury whilst training for the England Under 21s will receive 20%. Matt was there on the evening to enjoy the music with us. 10% of the proceeds will go to support the Ashby Folville church and village hall and is a way of saying thank you to all the Marshalls who helped at the event and who are from the village. Of course the greatest news is that every single pound taken at the event goes to the charities as all of the expenses are met by the very generous supporting companies.

Despite the fact that the number attending the event was down a little on last year, which we put down to the economic climate, we still managed a phenomenal £22,500 - a fantastic achievement all round!