In the last issue of CommunityAd we dedicated a page to the Eastry Safari that first took place in the summer and engaged and excited many amongst our community. Laura, the fabulous organiser, knew she was on to a hit and wasted no time in organising a second safari in October.
The fundraising mission behind the second safari was to raise enough money to aid the Eastry Youth Club who are in need of laptops. Laura delights in telling CommunityAd that an “excellent £456” was raised by the community on what was a special day in the village which attracted visitors from Dover, Thanet and Deal all of whom were in awe of both the beauty of the village and the compassion of its community.
As well as the fundraising element Laura notes that “what it’s all about” is the communal togetherness. “After the last 2 years everyone has been stuck inside so I really wanted to bring the community back together again”.
That much was definitely achieved as the village buzzed with activity and residents had set up stalls throughout the village. The Five Bells pub was the focal point and Laura was keen to point out her huge thanks to Mary the accommodating landlady. “We really wanted to promote the youth club and centre the day about them, we did a teddy tombola, booze raffle and pumpkin carving. The pumpkins were donated by Felderland farm PYO, we were also supported by the Co-op in Sandwich, a huge thank you for their support”.
This is not the only event that demonstrates the unity of this community, the craft fair at Eastry Village Hall saw £186 raised for a local girl Aimee who ran the virtual London Marathon for Martha Trust. This again was done purely by donations from the Eastry WI (cakes) Co-op (refreshments) and the generosity of the community donating some fantastic tombola prizes. As Laura puts it “we really do have a fantastic community”