Headway Cambridgeshire writes:
To mark the occasion we invited everyone to join us for an Anniversary Party on the afternoon of Saturday 19 July 2014. The event was held at our Cambridge hub at Block 10, Ida Darwin and we planned it as an out of doors event – a garden party and summer fete.
We invited everyone we knew: clients and their family, friends and carers, our neighbours and our supporters – all were welcome and we were delighted that so many people joined our celebration. Guests attended from across the county and beyond, including Deputy Mayor of Wisbech Cllr David Hodgson and Deputy Mayoress, Mrs Judy Hodgson.
As the time of the party drew nearer, we kept a very close eye on the weather as there had been terrific thunderstorms in the days leading up to the party, including that very morning. Then, as if on cue, the clouds parted and we were treated to the most perfect summer afternoon.
To have the sun smiling on our event was especially welcome as our garden party & fete included stalls and out-doors games, refreshments, a band and even a bouncy castle.
Guests enjoyed our usual tea & coffee and cake refreshments and there was a vast array of cakes on offer as well as a take-home cake stall. The BBQ serving sausages, burgers and side-salads was also very popular. Out on the lawn were also a bric-a-brac and book stalls, tombola and plant stall. Families enjoyed the games on the lawn including mini-football, catch-a-duck, throw-a-toad and other favourites.
As well as celebrating our first 25 years of helping adults with brain injury and their family and carers across the county of Cambridgeshire, we also wanted to remember a long-serving friend and volunteer. Maurice Reynolds had been one of the founders of Headway Cambridgeshire and served as a volunteer and friend for 24 years.
Sadly Maurice passed away in February 2014 but staff, trustees and clients wanted to do something to remember him. The clients were asked for suggestions and the most popular idea was a commemorative bench for clients to sit on and enjoy the garden.
We invited Maurice’s widow Margaret and his son Steven to help us commemorate Maurice as part of our anniversary celebration. Margaret and Steven both said a few words as Margaret cut a ribbon declaring the bench ‘open for sitting on’. Steven said it was particularly appropriate that a bench made of wood had been chosen by clients as Maurice had always had a woodworking project underway and frequently supported Headway clients with woodwork projects too.
After the commemoration the anniversary celebrations continued to the sound of live music from the Jackson Creek Band, which was enjoyed by everyone and some of the clients made immediate use of the bench.
We would like to say a very big thank you to all who came to the party: it really was wonderful to see so many clients and families enjoying themselves in the sunshine.
We also want to say thank you to all those volunteers and supporters who brought cakes and made side-salad dishes and helped to make the party such a huge success. Thank you to the Jackson Creek Band for their wonderful music.
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