People often ask me what is the point of twitter and blogs? I find it hard to put into words but 'Let Them Eat Cake' encapsulated all that is good about social networking. It brought all of my online friends into direct contact with my offline friends. It showed there is a real connection within the online community. It enabled local businesses to contribute to their community and for all our friends to show that they are real friends whether we have met them in person or not. It was a lesson in human kindness that I will be forever grateful for.
My friends and family were amazing and baked their socks off. So big thanks to Helena, Evy, Vera, Rachael, Lindsey, Louise, Jo, Rachel, Heather and Steph. We had an array of food described by one guest as 'Straight out of an Enid Blyton book or Harry Potter feast'. Almost everything was donated for free for the day which meant our out goings were kept to the very minimum and every penny raised was able to go to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital Charity
We had a team of lovely 'vintage' waitresses who ensured all the guests were kept topped up with tea and that the plates were never empty. Helped by a huge water urn supplied by Mann's Wharf.The pies from Bradley's Bakery were very well received. In the kitchen were are small army of people making sandwiches and washing up. In fact 'Team Kitty' worked like a well oiled machine.
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It was a lovely feeling opening our home to so many supportive people and seeing them actually have fun. The time really flew by and it was soon time for the raffle. So many lovely items had been donated to sell and raffle everyone was seriously spoilt for choice. All were delighted with their winnings and we were delighted so many people wanted to help. We truely couldn't have done it without everyone's support. Both in donating items and in buying tickets. We have so many people to thank...
Treefall Design, Thirty Five Flowers, Snapdragon, Three Red Apples, I'm a Ginger Monkey, Ruth Quilts, Ruth Singer, Lu Summers, Victoria Whincup, History's Attic, Stuart Thornley, Lady Behave, French Knots, KItty Eden, Cara Law, Dipity Do Dah, La Chic Unique, Little Tea Wagon, Vintage Jelly, The Secret Tea Cup, Old Fashioned Susie, Higgledy Piggledy, Tea Experience, Megan Thomas and Blueberry Park for all sending gorgeous items for us to sell and raffle.
A big thank you has to go to Carousel Kids for all their help with the designing the tickets and also a delightful tea-cup shaped keepsake wth all the sponsors details on.
The sale and raffle looked a lttle like a mini version of our Agnes Darling stall and was full of lots of items made and donated by our friends Ruth, Heather, Jacqui, Charlie, Kitty and also our fellow Vintage Village stall holders...
Tin Trunk, Village Vintage, Woodchip Boutique, The Side Room, Christine's Crafts, Rachel's Boutique, High Tea, House of Gingerbread, Time for Tea and Cake, All Our Yesterdays, Lost But Not Forgotten, Grumbi Dolls, Parrot in the Pantry, Karin FIndell, Oh Betty and Vintage by Moya.
Finally we need to thank our guests. The 60 people who bought tickets and actually came on a drizzly Saturday afternoon to support us. Who were generous in more ways than one.
We are incredibly blessed to be able to share our story with so many. I realise that not everybody is fortunate to have such a happy ending and sometimes the heartbreak for some is too much to bear but my life has taught me that every story can teach us about ourselves and others. Every story can enable us to make a difference.
We hope that the amazing amount of £1200 that we raised will make a positive difference to somebody else's story. That our efforts can help somebody else even in a little way but in truth giving back has probably helped us much , much more.
(Tomorrow I will post about how you can still help us make a difference)