2011 Donkey Derby report

We held our 16th annual Donkey Derby yesterday afternoon, and it was a fantastic success.  The organisation was excellent and everything ran really smoothly.  Attendance was recorded at over 3,400 people coming through the gate - that's a lot of people coming to have fun.  Saints star Adam Lallana came along to open the proceedings and to give some commentary on the opening procession then on the first race.  Quite a few lucky fans got their photos taken with him, so we had plenty of success straight away.

The weather was perfect - warm but not desperately hot, a bit of cloud cover and no rain.  The donkey races ran to plan - a few fallers as usual but no injuries.  Lots of people mingling around the field watching the racing, playing the games, buying at the stalls and generally enjoying themselves.  There were queues at many of the attractions, but none so long as to be a problem.


On the Aquativity stall we had lots of interesting conversations about the Sea Scouts, the building project and the current status.  We were using that stall to sell tickets for the draw in September, and that went brilliantly - over 1000 Grand Draw tickets sold at this one event.  With lots of tickets already having been sold at other events and by people in the Sea Scouts as they go about their business, we are well into profit for the Grand Draw having more than paid for the printing and the £500 first prize.


As the finances are worked out, I'll update our Big 20/20 gauge to reflect how much we've made towards out £20,000 target for the end of September.  Two things are certain - lots of people came along and had a great time, and our finances have taken a great leap forward, almost certainly we made more for the Group and the Aquativity project at this Donkey Derby than ever before.


Thank you very much to everyone involved - the organising team, those who sold programmes, those who gave up their time on Friday to set up, those who came along on Saturday to finish the preparations then to run the attractions, those who stayed behind to clear up, and those who came along to help make it such a success.

And on a personal note, I had a great time on the Aquativity stall, and the donkey I sponsored in race 3 won, then won again in the final, so I've come home with the "owner's" cup!