Daffodil Weekend 2019

 

Hi all,

 

This e mail is to update you on preparations for this years Daffodil Weekend on 23/24 March

 

As you are probably aware this event raises a lot of money for good causes both inside and outside of the Parish and is also a great way to meet new people, make friends and “give back” in general. It is one of the things that brings us together and makes Thriplow special

The event is a huge effort for the village - from people running the car parks, serving teas, tidying up through to the land owners letting us use their fields. As a result of all the effort on the weekend itself our small, beautiful village runs more retail outlets than Bluewater! So a huge thanks in advance.

 

External Charity

 

This year our nominated charity is Rosie Maternity Unit at Addenbrook’s Charitable Trust.

 

Stall set up

 

Set up is from 7am on Saturday morning. Some may set up on Friday between 4.30 and 8pm. Stallholders are told to be mindful of where they park so as to allow access through for residents. However access through the Green will be difficult over the weekend – we are sorry for the inconvenience. We will be installing temporary matting around the edges of the Green to minimise damage

 

Media Contact

 

Daffodil Weekend attracts media attention nationally. If you are contacted by the media please forward them on to Paul Earnshaw or Kerstin Rivett admin@PROTECTED. Also assure them we will have daffodils – over half a million of them!

 

Making our visitors welcome – please put out chairs

 

We get a lot of positive feedback about how friendly the village is. Please talk to any of our visitors – they love it. It would also be great if you could put out garden chairs for them to sit and rest on

 

Stalls ‘at home’ – Charity and Domestic Commercial stalls on driveways

 

The Daffodil Weekend event offers residents the opportunity to have a stall ‘at home’ to raise money for particular charitable causes. There is no charge for stalls that are raising funds purely for charity. However, where the resident is trying to make money from goods of any kind, we ask for a goodwill contribution of £25. Cheques, made payable to Thriplow Daffodil Weekend, can be left in the Daffodil Weekend postbox in the Village Shop, preferably before the 22^nd March 2019.

 

Stalls ‘at home’ applications can be submitted online www.thriplowdaffodils.org.uk/stalls-at-home-application-form/ and this form covers both domestic commercial and charity stalls. Application forms are also available in the Village Shop for those who do not have access to the internet.

Please note: if you have a stall ‘at home’, an offer to help with main Daffodil Weekend duties (e.g. car parking or tearooms) would be appreciated!

 

The Committee would be interested to know how much money you make so we can add it to the grand total raised by Daffodil Weekend. Please get in touch by emailing admin@PROTECTED.

 

Volunteers: Tearooms and baking

The Tearoom Team – Gill McDonnell, Mandy Thornton and Diana Ramsay

• Phone: 01763 208059
• Email: daffodiltearooms@PROTECTED

The rotas are filling up nicely but there are still spaces to be filled – sign up at the shop

Let us know if you’re baking, then we can monitor the number and type of cakes likely to arrive

On the weekend: cakes can be dropped off at the Village Hall Meeting Room on:

· Friday between 3 and 6pm

· Saturday/Sunday from 8am

 

Please remember:

· Label your plates and trays so they can be easily identified

· Uncollected plates and trays will be kept for one week after the event before being disposed of (call 01763 208059 if you’ve lost yours)

· If you would prefer not to leave your own plate, then paper plates will be available in the Meeting Room at the Village Hall

· Label your cake - a ‘flag’ out of a cocktail stick and sticky label works well (also available in the Hall)

· Let us know if your cakes contains nuts

 

Volunteers: Team Sandwich

 

Making our own sandwiches has proved to be a big success. A huge amount of fun was had in making them. If you fancy being part of ‘team sandwich’ then give us a shout. An hour and a half at most is all you need to commit to on either the Friday or Saturday evening usually from about 5pm. Please contact Katie Hilton by email – wildwoodbss@PROTECTED if you would like to help make sandwiches.

 

Volunteers: Car parking, bus parking, transport

 

For many visitors the first impression that they get of Thriplow is when they arrive at the car parks and coach parks. We are very grateful to all the people who take time out of their day and so enthusiastically help with parking and welcoming visitors to our village. If you are able to help, please contact Fergus Fergus510@PROTECTED as soon as possible. Volunteers are only needed for relatively short periods of time and it is a fun way to contribute to the weekend. The village is regularly praised on the warm welcome visitors receive. This year we will be running a new transport system to minimise the impact of vehicles on Fowlmere – a map of the new system will be on display at the shop

Volunteers: Tidying the village after the event

 

An important job that takes place at the end of the day is the village tidy up. This typically involves checking that the car parks are clear (of both people and rubbish) and clearing up any straw that has been used. If you are able to help with this please also email neilrowlandhall@PROTECTED. The more helpers we have the quicker everyone can get to the pub!

 

We are conscious that in the past the village has taken a while to recover after Daffodil Weekend so we are looking into protecting delicate verges and entrances with a combination of matting and wood chippings ahead of the event

 

Volunteers: Childrens Thriplow

 

Volunteers are also needed to run some of the Children’s games for a couple of hours. No money taking or prize giving involved, as we use tokens, so relatively easy and good fun. Please contact Kellywordenkam@PROTECTED

 

Open gardens and daffodil planting

 

Why not open your garden? This tradition dates back to the very first Daffodil Weekend and is very popular with the visitors. Your garden does not need to be a “show garden” our visitors are interested in seeing how other gardens are laid out etc. If you would like to open your garden please e mail admin@PROTECTED

 

We have continued the planting programme with plantings of specialist and heritage daffodils around the village – you may have seen the marker signs appearing. As a result we now have over 100 different varieties of daffodils within the village. We are absolutely guaranteed that some will be in flower whatever the weather. Have you planted some daffodils this year and know what type they are – please let us know admin@PROTECTED so we can add them to the records and give you a marker sign

 

Programmes for entry to the village

 

These will be distributed to the village approximately a week before the event. Please note these programmes are to allow residents and helpers free access to the village during the road closures. If you are a helper from outside the village then further programmes will be available in the shop and school. If you have friends or relatives visiting especially for the weekend, we would be grateful if they made a contribution to the charity weekend by buying their programme as a normal visitor or by helping and thus qualifying for a free entry programme

 

Safety meeting

 

The health and safety and radio briefing for Team Leaders etc will take place on Wednesday 20^th March at 8pm in the Village Hall

 

New for 2019

 

As well as measures we are taking to ensure the smooth running of the event (new traffic management system and protection of village infrastructure) we are continuing our strategy of making Daffodil Weekend more family friendly by trying to promote the spirit of a warm and friendly historic English village. We are moving “Childrens Thriplow” into the same field as “Country Thriplow” to exploit the synergies of these two attractions and to make more room for an enlarged “Taste of Thriplow”.

 

Contacting Daffodil Weekend

 

We are keen to hear your views and suggestions about Daffodil Weekend. You can do this in a number of ways – you can e mail us on admin@PROTECTED , you can contact us through the website http://thriplowdaffodils.org.uk or by using the Daffodil Weekend postbox in the Village Shop. You can also speak directly to a member of the committee

· Admin Gill McDonnell

· Attractions Mary Lindgren

· Tearooms Mandy Thornton / Diana Ramsey / Gill McDonnell

· Chairman Paul Earnshaw

· Children’s Thriplow Morag Clifford / Kelly Austin

· Communications (Event Radios) Mark Brogan

· Country Thriplow Anna Jermain

· Finance Lisa Maltpress

· Fowlmere Liaison Mel Vinton

· Infrastructure Clare Ansell / Greg Hilton

· Music and stalls Laura Hunt / Sarah Deacon

· Publicity and website Kerstin Rivett

· Safety Brian Roberts

· Signs Andrew Parsons / Jonny Griffin

· Taste of Thriplow Alastair Gray

· Transport Fergus Ramsay / Sabrina Melvin

· Village Image Neil Rowland Hall