BIG 20/20 Fundraising update

Don't forget we have a BIG 20/20 challenge running! 
For every £1 we raise, we have another £1 to match it from our charitable benefactors, up to £20,000 with a deadline of the end of September.  So how are we doing?

Well, we're doing ok. We still have some way to go, so need to be busy over the summer, particularly selling tickets for our Grand Draw, but we are on somewhere around £13,000 so far.

That is assuming a £6,000 profit on the Donkey Derby last week.  We still have some incoming funds and some outgoing expenses on that, and will have for some time, so the Donkey Derby money is only an estimate at the moment, but based on previous years and our knowledge of how successful the event was this year, it is probably not far off.

On the Grand Draw, we've sold somewhere close to £700-worth of tickets.  We need to sell a LOT more over the next 2-3 months.  If anyone can help, please don't hesitate to contact us.

The Smartie Challenge was a fantastic success, raising a total of about £950!  The rest of the money has come from the Barn Dance, back packing, donations etc. that have been coming in through the year.

Some main fundraising activities coming up are:

• Litter picking at Netley Marsh Steam Fair on the weekend of 24th July.
• Selling tickets for the Grand Draw - anywhere and everywhere.  Everyone wants a chance to win £500, so it is pretty easy to sell a ticket for just 50p a chance.  Or a book for £2.50 for that matter!
• We're looking at running another bag packing session later in the year - previous sessions have raised well over £1,000.
• 4 September is our Group boating day, combined with a Hampshire Wildlife Trust open day at Testwood Lakes - we'll be doing things like sponsored boating, serving food etc., so we hope to raise a fair amount that day.  And I guess we'll be looking to sell lots more draw tickets then too!

Ideas welcome, especially if you also have the time to organise and/or run with turning your idea into reality.  We always need more help with running the fundraising, so while ideas are very much appreciated, ideas and help are even better :-)

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!

Brickwork starts - and Donkey Derby

Another exciting week in the life of the Aquativity project.  Brickwork has started as the base for the walls, and the Donkey Derby is this weekend...

The construction of the building is concrete footings, brickwork around the base of the walls, then timber frame on top with cladding to form the shell.  Of this, the footings are now in, and the brickwork is underway.

Meanwhile, much of the Group's energy is going into getting ready for the Donkey Derby on Saturday - apart from those Scouts and Leaders involved in winning the District Camping Competition last weekend (well done to them and good luck for the County competition you've won the right to enter)! - oh, and the people involved in the very successful Totton Carnival procession and stall.

Lots of Donkey Derby programmes have been sold now at a range of venues over the last few weeks, so we're doing well for bringing some cash in before we start.  The site, equipment, tents, food, tombola prizes etc. are all coming together, as a result of a lot of hard work from the organising team.

And now, we've just heard today that Adam Lallana is confirmed as coming along to open the Donkey Derby for us.  We're hoping to see lots of Saints fans joining the crowds to watch the donkey racing, enter the tombola, bet on the races, eat the burgers, buy the cakes etc.  The weather forecast is looking good, so we're all set for a great day.

From digging down to starting to build up

This week, for the first time, the building has moved from digging earth out to beginning the process of building up.  Trenches have been dug for all the exterior and load-bearing walls, and for the base of the lift shaft, and these have now been filled with concrete ready to build on.

Load-bearing areas concreted ready to build on

You can see the base of where the lift will take people to the first floor, front and centre in this picture.  Entrance hall to the left, meeting room to the right, changing areas and galley behind, with the boat store at the far end.

Also this week, members of The New Forest Rotary Club visited the Sea Scouts on Thursday evening to hand over two new kayaks they have donated.  We'll get the full story and pictures posted to the Sea Scouts website.  The new kayaks have the Rotary Club logo on them, and a spare logo sticker was also put on the temporary boat store container to mark their contribution.  It is great to see the "Aquativity - Testwood Lakes" name on a sponsor's logo like this - if anyone else wants to see their name or logo associated with us, let's talk.

Of course, the big event coming up for us is the Donkey Derby on 2nd July.  Preparations are going well, with programme selling occupying time over the weekends for quite a few volunteers, as well as Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers (and their leaders and parents) all doing their bit to sell as many programmes as possible.  Outside Argos in Totton was the main selling venue yesterday - thanks to those who helped there and to everyone involved.  To find out more about what our Donkey Derby is all about, take a look at this site dedicated to the event and its organisers and helpers.

What with Totton Carnival on 25th June, the Donkey Derby on 2nd July, and selling tickets for the Grand Draw (to be drawn at the end of September), the usual Sea Scouts sections' activities every week, camping plans for August and of course the building project progressing day by day, we're certainly having a very busy summer, and that's only mentioning a few things that we've got going on.  If anyone is wondering how they can do more to help, please email aquativity@gmail.com, we'd love to hear from you. 

Raft Race - New Forest North District comes to Aquativity

This afternoon/evening has been the New Forest North District Scouts Raft Race, hosted at Testwood Lakes, home of Aquativity.  6 teams between Eling, Copythorne, Testwood and Lyndhurst were competing in a series of races in very windy conditions.




An excellent performance from the 2 Eling teams saw them taking 1st and 3rd places, with Copythorne taking the 2nd place.  Lots of good fun on the water, as well as Scouts working as teams and continuing to learn new skills.

Importantly for Aquativity, it was also a good opportunity for a range of people around the district to see that things really are happening on the building project, and the much awaited new Sea Scouts centre is on its way.

Over the last week, the main skimming of the ground has completed, shale put on top and the roller brought in to compact the ground and shale surface.  Now the trenches are being dug ready for the footings; they are in place for about half the building so far.  Concrete reinforcing bars are on site ready for the concrete raft to be poured in, so keep watching for more rapid progress over the coming week.

Activity this Half Term week

You may have seen our Group featured on BBC South Today, as part of the national Volunteering week, talking about the need for volunteers in a range of roles, and what some of our current volunteers get out of their roles.

The full report was shown on Thursday evening, read more about it here: http://www.elingseascouts.org.uk/node/240.

Meanwhile the building project is progressing apace, and this evening we are hosting the District Raft Race.  I'll try to get some photos of the both building progress and the Raft Race and post them in the next update.

Funding progress

As well as being a fantastic week for the activity on site, there is still lots going on for the funding side of things.

1. Preparations are going well for the annual Donkey Derby.  This year, it will be held on 2nd July, at Eling Recreation Ground.  We're looking forward to an excellent turnout and a record taking this year to bring in the much needed funding to get the project through to completion.  The Totton Carnival week runs from the procession the weekend before through to the Donkey Derby as the Carnival climax.  We'll have members of the Sea Scouts Group in the procession advertising the Group, the Aquativity project and the Donkey Derby.  Programmes will be on sale around the Totton area starting from this weekend, with many members of the Sea Scouts volunteering their time to sell these programmes to the public.
2. This coming Monday is Totton Charity Market, where we'll be selling draw tickets, plants, bric-a-brac etc.  Again, thanks to the wonderful volunteers from Sea Scouts parents, leaders and friends who are giving up their valuable time on a Bank Holiday Monday.
3. The grand prize draw has started.  Tickets are printed and starting to be distributed and sold.  Just 50p a ticket with the chance of winning £500 or another great prize.  The sales will run throughout the summer with the draw at the end of September.
4. A charitable trust (not the one I've mentioned before) pledged a donation of £2000, to be made available when we started work.  As soon as we started on Tuesday, we contacted them and they have confirmed that the money is on its way!