Category Archives: Social

Village Hall Appeal Update

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What a year it’s been for Fulking!
Following a community consultation in January, we launched a bid to raise a daunting £85,000 to save our village hall. There followed a year-long programme of fundraising events, from Seedling Sunday, Farm Open Day and the Wimbledon Garden Party to the Charity Cricket Match, Ceilidh and Call My Bluff.
The Shepherd and Dog came up trumps with a £1 voluntary donation on every table, raising an incredible £4,000 to date, and most recently Sally Gunnell’s quiz at Preston Nomads raised over £3,600.
Still to come are the Fulking Xmas Party on Dec 12 and a Champagne Music Night on Dec 13.

The good news is that with £80,000 in the pot, we’ve very nearly made it, and the hall purchase is going ahead as we write. An enormous and heartfelt thank-you to everyone for your incredible generosity and support.

The even better news is that the whole community has come together behind the project as never before! Any surplus funds will go to hall improvement.

Bobservation No. 134: Call My Bluff Wine Quiz

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Call my bluff wine quiz
Nick Hughes and I started this event to raise funds for the Social Committee. Through the years we have been supported by Quaff, Wine Rack and Tesco among others.
Initially we were helped by a friend of Nick’s but as it developed we did more of the organisation and pricing ourselves.

Call My Bluff Wine Quiz evenings have been held in the village hall, in the marquee at the annual village fair at various private homes, at Preston Nomads and at the Shepherd & Dog.
The ethos has been to keep the cost of admission as low as possible whilst enabling the guests to enjoy good wines and perhaps even learn a little about wine. The largest number of places we ever sold was 96 in the marquee.

We have tried to keep the inebriation at an acceptable level but I must confess on a few occasions it has ended up as a bit of a party. The three quizzers have been assisted by a crib sheet for each of the wines and allowed to embellish this as much as they care to.

I have personally had a great deal of pleasure presenting this evening and have descended into barely acceptable Limerick poetry at times.
Over the years we have raised quite a lot of money for the Social Committee.

Lastly, I wish the Village Hall fund raisers every success in their latest edition next month, of what, I hope, has become something of a Fulking tradition.

Call My Bluff Wine Evening – 7th November 6:30-10:30pm, Fulking Village Hall.

Village Hall Survey

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Fulking Village Hall Survey

Fulking_Village_Hall_posterizedPlease complete a short survey by 31st January to help shape future activities and improvements at Fulking Village Hall….or paste this link into your browser: https://forms.gle/xeiUdJYrdgb6ETTH9

Your feedback is really important to help develop the hall into a permanent and valuable asset for everyone in our community of local villages.

Please also Save The Date for the Open Day at Fulking Village Hall on 11th January.

Bobservation No. 123: Mortality

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Back & White image of Call my Bluff panellists with John Prescott's head replacing Fank MuirMortality
The death of John Prescott will matter very differently to many of you. On the one hand a great symbol of the rise of the working class in British politics and on the other as an ignorant, uneducated man. I happen to be in the former category and recall some of his great vociferations in the House of Commons, his dedication to the cause of democracy and being a larger than life figure that now and then appears on the political scene. In a way his death serves as a reminder to us all that however long and important a life may be it is but a brief flutter in the course of time. As I get older, without having achieved the fame of John Prescott, I can look back with great pride at my small involvement with the marvellous village of Fulking and the many friends I have made there.

Call my Bluff evening
Now, having a really successful ‘Call my Bluff’ wine evening was always one of the highlights of the Social Committee’s year but Sally and Jenny, ably assisted by the generosity of Majestic and all the others who put in so much work on the evening raised an incredible £1000+. This will greatly help to cover some of the outgoings that are so necessary to keep the ageing village hall going. Mrs Ormsby-Gore asked me to congratulate Geoff on winning the quiz!

Bobservation No. 122: Call My Budget Bluff

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The Budget
Now, depending on your political affiliation, you may have your own thoughts on Rachel Reeves’ Budget.
So far as I am concerned and ignoring everything else the National Health Service must come first. Not only are we all served by a fine and dedicated staff but the degree of care and kindness is quite exceptional. The bonus is that this is the foundation of the welfare state, in many ways the envy of most civilised countries worldwide.  Having suffered from lack of proper investment for many years, it will be interesting to see how quickly the waiting lists can be reduced.

Call my Bluff Evening
Sally may still have a few tickets left for the Call my Bluff wine evening on Friday November 8th in the village hall.
In the past we have had some riotous evenings and there is no reason why this one should not be very good fun.
It requires little or no knowledge of wines! Regrettably old age prevents me from attending but Mrs Ormsby-Gore joins me in wishing you all a very good evening.

Bobservation No.121: Participation

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Cropped and rotated partial image of fun day poster - blue text on white

Fulking Fun Day
What a successful day this should have been. Weather not too bad and input by the Social Committee and other villagers very good indeed. I suppose the highlight has to be the Steel Band with our very own SallyAnne performing with great skill and energy! BUT the attendance was really pretty poor considering the effort that had been generated. It has been a problem for many years and it is hard for me to suggest something that would encourage more villagers to attend. In the past the Fulking Fair managed to attract big numbers probably because it was supported by the RSPCA dog show, advertised to the general public and had car parking in the immediate vicinity. So if these purely village events are to continue some ideas are required to encourage Fulking residents to attend. If you have an idea please contact the Social Committee.

Quotations Group
The Quotations Group was originated by Samantha and is still chaired by her most skilfully. We meet in the village hall every Monday morning to discuss a subject agreed from the previous week. Regular attendance is between seven and ten adults. In an interesting way I like to think we have become good friends and the discussions are very open! Meetings start at 11am and generally last for about an hour and a half. All villagers are welcome.

Bobservation No. 120: Bluffing

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Call my Bluff
I understand that the Social Committee will be having a ‘Call my Bluff’ wine evening in November. Having been involved over quite a long time in previous evenings I am delighted that this very social fund-raising event is still going strong. The first time we ever had one was twenty odd years ago and it was hosted by the Wine Rack staff from Henfield. Indeed I still bump in to Jackie who was part of the team that evening in the village hall. Since then we have learnt to put together the requisite pieces to operate with a minimum of outside help. If you enjoy wine and are looking for an amusing evening this is for you and your friends. Details should be circulated shortly.

Village Hall
Doesn’t it seem a long time since we heard anything from the Parish Council about progress, or lack of it, on the potential purchase of the village hall from the Church? Even by the pace at which the Church of England moves surely something must be happening. Parish Council please bring villagers up to date.