Mollys Carnival
On the 24th May 2023, Lisa put out a call via Facebook to the community. Asking people to come together in support of a local family. She wanted to fundraise so that Molly and her family could make some great memories after receiving some terrible news.
The community, as it does, came together and Cllr Phyll Cullen was there straight away, wanting to be involved as she and the previous landlord of the Wellfield Hotel had hosted fundraisers for Molly in the past. They decided to host the Carnival in Mesnes Park.
There were lots of meetings and an unbelievable amount of forms to be filled in. It was a steep learning curve for Lisa and Brenda who had never organised anything on this scale before. Luckily they had a team of community members around them and the three local councillors opened doors in the Council and helped with the cost, offering Brighter Boroughs funding.
In the end, it was fantastic day, with so many local people gifting their time and their services.
There’s so many people to thank that we’re sure we’ll miss a few out.
The organising group pulled together by Lisa- Brenda, Phyll, Sasha, Caitlin, Mollys parents Claire & Paul, Vera, Jane, Kelly, Laura, Sonia, Stacy, Sue Ellen, Tanya, Becky, Cathy from Whitley Stay and Play, Kirsty and Mel.
The three councillors Phyll, Dave and Sheila for their support and financial help.
The photographer Martin Webster for taking and gifting photos from the day.
Rent a dinosaur for gifting their time and entertaining the children.
Lisa for face painting.
Ryan for singing.
Lawrence and Tim for singing and Curtis for compering.
Dance Steps and FLD dance for entertainment.
Drawings by Luke and gifted to sell on the day.
L30 Centre who gifted some mascot costumes.
The three young men who acted as mascots – Michael, Jamie & Sunny.
The printer who gifted the banners and Sonia, Kelly, Matthew and all who dressed up in mascot costumes.
Alan and Keith for making and gifting the stocks.
Sandra, Gill, Dave and Gemma for all their help. And council staff for the behind the scenes support.
The mayor for coming along and helping Molly open the carnival. Phyll for looking after the mayor and consort.
Emergency services for contributing to the day.
All the community members who came along and supported the event and dug deep in their pockets when times are tough.
Donations were received from the stalls.
The sweet stall gave a £40 donation.
Ramzy ice creams provided a £55 donation.
Andy Christy, who operated the inflatable donated £100.
Ponts who provided the fair and food offered a £250 donation.
And an anonymous donor donated £50.
The total raised to date is £1339 and the cash is now in the hands of the family.
There’s still more to come in and a raffle is planned.
This event wasn’t organised by Springfield, Beech Hill and Gidlow CommUnity, but two of the members of the organising group – Lisa and Brenda, played a big part in making this happen, so we’d like to thank them for all the work they put in. Great work from wonderful women.