What an amazing fundraising event organised by Denise Telford of SSAFA Sedgefield on Friday 2nd November. Denise ran a SSAFA sponsored ‘Big Brew’ at The Royal Telegraph, Aycliffe Village from 11am through to 10pm. The day started off with Denise and her helpers serving tea and cakes to supporters throughout the afternoon.
We were lucky to receive a visit from the Deputy Mayor and Mayoress of Great Aycliffe Town Council, Mary Dalton and Val Raw together with the officers and soldiers from 102 Battalion REME, our local Reserve Army unit.
In the evening the fundraising continued with Video Horse Racing that certainly drew in the punters! The event concluded with a raffle draw and an auction of signed boxing gloves, (Antony Joshua and Sugar Ray Leonard), kindly donated by Simon Godding. The glove auction alone raised a staggering £500 and we are grateful to “Pav” for his generous winning bid. All in all a total of £935 was raised throughout the day, making this event Sedgefield’ Divisions Fundraiser of the Year.
Of course an event like this could never have been so successful without the support and generosity of local businesses and the people of Aycliffe who not only delved deep into their pockets but in many cases played a role in the running of the event. On behalf of SSAFA we would wish to thank the following local businesses and individuals for their generous donations towards the Raffle:
John Wade Group
Redworth Hall Hotel
The County, Aycliffe Village
Aycliffe Framers and Engravers
PhysioRooms
Petite Boutique
W Slater & Sons
Love Thy Cupcake
Jorga’s Attic
Peter Jacobsen
Hayden Godding
Christine Dean
Simon Godding
Vicki Craggs
A special mention and our thanks go to Vicki Craggs of The Royal Telegraph Public House for hosting the SSAFA event, to Simon Godding (MC) and Chris Reed who performed as Bookmaker for the horse racing. Thank you also to Christine Dean who helped set up the displays and played waitress to our visitors.
Finally, thank you to all those unnamed raffle donors and the lovely people of Aycliffe Village and surrounds who made the day such a success. The support shown to our servicemen, veterans and their families is truly appreciated.
Photo: Deputy Mayor and Mayoress of Great Aycliffe, Mary Dalton dropped in for tea and cake.
Left to right: Vicki Craggs, Val Raw, Mary Dalton, Denise Telford.