Summer Fayre is a Success: Almost £1,000 Raised for Local Learning Disability Charity

Local businesses, entertainers and volunteers come together to create a family fun day for all to enjoy.

The third Summer Fayre for Pennine Mencap took place at Hurst Community Centre in Ashton this past weekend, raising funds for the charity to carry on its work providing support and opportunities to people with learning disabilities in the community.

Pennine Mencap’s Summer Fayre invited a host of supportive local small businesses to sell their products, as well as welcoming a variety of local entertainers to perform on the stage to keep spirits high. Volunteers from inside and outside of the charity came together to work on stalls, games, a tombola and a Grand Raffle to support the event, creating a day out where everyone had a marvellous time all in the name of a good cause.

The charity wanted to create a space that was inclusive to all, with stalls under cover and prizes to appeal to people of all ages; entertainers ranged from “meet the princess” Belle, all the way to a 4-piece retro ukulele band, Sounds Familiar. Classic BBQ-style food was a hit and kept energy levels high for the engaging event. The event was also attended by the Tameside Mayor, Councillor Shibley Alam, who took a tour of the venue and was introduced to the key organisers of the day and many Pennine Mencap’s beneficiaries.

The charity holds weekly “Dancercise” sessions, which promote exercise mixed with enjoyment, with one of these much-loved sessions held on the day in the open air. Crowds gathered to watch the session take place, even with the special guest of the day, the Mayor, taking part in the session, displaying that these sessions are truly a hit.

The event was well attended by a broad cross-section of the community, including service users of the charity who came in support of the event, local families who flocked in from seeing the signs posted all around Ashton, and representatives from other disability organisations who also attended with their service users. “A highlight of the day was watching different service users interact and enjoy a variety of the entertainment that was hosted, seeing them dance and enjoy themselves with Belle was very special” – Tom Morris, volunteer

Yells of excitement could be heard around the centre after prizes were won from one of the stalls, such as classic games such as tin can alley and tombola. The highlight of the day was building on the esteemed prizes that could be won on the Grand Raffle. Numerous in-demand prizes such as trips to Junkyard Golf, hampers and restaurant vouchers for popular establishments, including Tampopo in Manchester and Billingtons in Oldham.

These were kindly donated by generous businesses, as well as the community centre sponsoring the day. Desserts were thoughtfully donated by Takeaway Supplies Group in Dukinfield in the form of 120 ice lollies for the charity to sell. These kind gestures support the charity immensely in hosting these events and creating an inclusive environment for all to be themselves and have an enjoyable day.

The charity has now totalled up the funds raised, with the final figure reaching £976. This supports the charity tremendously, helping cover daily running costs, improvements of the services that are offered at Hurst Community Centre and the charity’s base in Oldham, and helping level up the facilities to host more service users and become an even more inclusive environment for everyone in the local community.