Hi all,

50th Daffodil Weekend 17/18 March 2018

Daffodil Weekend is all about the village working together as a community. It is a great way to meet people, have fun and raise money for good causes. It is a unique event and something we should all be proud of! Last year you managed to raise over £40k for charity and local good causes

Preparations are well underway for this years event. Below are details on the arrangements and ways you may like to get involved.

Serving tea and helping in the car parks

·               We are always looking for more help
·               Serving teas, cake and sandwich making  please contact Gill McDonnell daffodilweekendcatering@PROTECTED
·               Transport, car parking, heavy horses etc please contact Fergus Ramsay admin@PROTECTED

Open gardens

· We are always looking to open more gardens – please contact Paul Earnshaw (admin@PROTECTED) if you are willing to open your garden – even just for a few hours at some point in the weekend

Stalls at home

·               Please remember that it is the event itself which gives you the opportunity for you to have a stall at home. If too many of us focus on our own personal fund raising we will not have the resources to support the main event and we will all lose.
·               “commercial stalls”: It would be greatly appreciated that for profit generating stalls at home that you contribute £25 to the Daffodil Weekend – contact a member of the committee.
·               Charity stalls: If you are raising money purely for charity you do not need to pay a fee but it would be good if you could let us know approximately how much you raised so we can create a “grand total” of money raised for charity by the whole event.
·               If you would like to apply for a stall at home please apply through the website https://www.thriplowdaffodils.org.uk/book-a-stall/

Road closures and keeping the village tidy

·               As usual the roads will be closed between 9am and 6pm on the Saturday and Sunday of the weekend. We will be running the one way system that worked well last year to reduce the length of the queues.
·               We will be using temporary road matting at the entrances to the car parks and verges to minimise damage

Entry to the village during daffodil weekend

·               Residents who live within the parish of Thriplow will be eligible for free entry
·               Parish residents who live within the road closures will receive a programme through their door in the week before the event
·               Parish residents who live outside of the road closures will be able to pick up a free programme – details of how to do this will be published later
·               Anyone who helps with Daffodil Weekend eg by serving teas, car parking etc will be eligible for free entry
·               This year we will be selling tickets in advance through the website – please encourage any friends or visitors to buy their tickets in advance
·               If you have friends or family visiting specially for the weekend and they are staying with you we would encourage them to pay for entry as well – the money is going to charity
·               People walking into the village will be charged for entry – the entry fee is per person and is not for car parking

Contact with the media and press

· Daffodil Weekend now has a national profile – we should be proud of what our small village has achieved! Should you be contacted by the media please forward the query to paul.earnshaw@PROTECTED or ask them to ring Paul on 07867 671535. The newspapers are always on the look-out for a story and we want to present a positive message

Daffodils

·               Working with the Parish Council we have now got over half a million daffodils in the village!
·               We have planted over 80 different varieties so are guaranteed to have daffodils in flower from late January through to May
·               We will be putting out signs marking the varieties and a map at the village shop should you wish to find a specific plant. The map is also available on the website
·               We have planted more of our own variety “Thriplow Gold” around the village sign and also in large tubs that will be positioned around the village

50th Daffodil Weekend celebration

·               This will be taking place on the weekend of 6th May 2018 – keep it free!
·               There are many things being planned to make this special and it is being organised by the past chairmen (Tim and Uday) to celebrate our wonderful community

Contacting Daffodil Committee

· Please get in touch with us if you have any suggestions or concerns. We are always looking for people to join us - so if you want to have fun and help in organising a major charity event we will be able to find a role for you.

Admin                                                   Gill McDonnell
Attractions                                          Mary Lindgren
Catering                                               Gill McDonnell
Chairman                                             Paul Earnshaw
Childrens Thriplow                          Morag Clifford
Childrens Thriplow                          Kelly Austin
Comunication infrastructure       Mark Brogan
Country Thriplow                             Anna Jermain
Finance                                                Lisa Maltpress
Safety                                                   Brian Roberts
Infrastructure                                    Greg Hilton
Infrastructure                                    Clare Ansell
Music and stalls                                Sarah Deacon
Music and stalls                                Laura Hunt
Publicity                                                Kerstin Rivett
Signs                                                      Jonny Griffin
Signs                                                      Andrew Parsons
Stalls                                                      Alastair Gray
Transport                                            Fergus Ramsay
Village Image                                    Neil Rowland Hall

Look out for future updates as the event gets nearer and thanks in advance for all of your support.

Best wishes

Daffodil Weekend Committee