Our
Christmas Fayre and Branch Re-launch was a fantastic day!
The United Reformed Church was a fantastic venue, and they were very accommodating, allowing us to use their main hall for our main event, their kitchen, their unity room for our games room, and their lounge as a quiet room for anyone with an Autism Spectrum Disorder who needed somewhere quiet to retreat to.
We were able to get into the hall two hours early to set everything up ...
Our Father Christmas Grotto, built and painted by the committee secretary's husband, Adrian Saunders. We had pretty lights framing the doorway, a stocking hung on the fireplace, a sack of presents 'neath the tree, and a
'Naughty and Nice' scroll and quill for Father Christmas to use to keep track of all the good boys and girls!
Speaking of arty things, we also had these handsome reindeer gracing our stalls and hiding in various places around the hall, for the Hunt the Reindeer game ...
All reindeers were designed and drawn by Adrian Saunders
We also had lots of stalls to set up before our guests arrived ...
Volunteer Louise and committee member Lynda setting up the cake stall
The bric a brac stall
And Marion and Judith had a fantastic stall selling lots of delicious Christmassy treats
Our Autistic Spectrum Disorders information table, which was also the place to buy official NAS Christmas cards, reindeer food, Santa keys and tickets to see Father Christmas in his grotto
Our raffle table was brimming with prizes donated by generous businesses
Jennie Button had a fantastic assortment of button craft items available for purchase
Our cake stall is all ready for business! We had gluten free cakes and biscuits on sale, as well as standard cakes, to accommodate those with Autism Spectrum Disorders who follow a gluten free diet.
A friend of Amber, the event co-ordinator, donated this beautiful handmade fruit cake, decorated with the NAS logo
And Sarah was all ready to give facials and massages from her well-stocked Body Shop at Home stall
Another committee member, Sue, ran the Map of the UK game
And so we were all set!
The Fayre and Branch Re-launch was officially opened by our new Branch Officer, Jayne Page, and by Roary from Waveney Youth Football Club at 11 am!
Here's Roary posing with Father Christmas ...
I bet Roary's been a good boy this year, and that Father Christmas put him on the
'Nice' section of his scroll!
Our new Branch Officer braved the bracing Winter temperatures for most of the Fayre, meeting and greeting people at the entrance of the church and welcoming them to the event.
Back inside the church, the committee members and volunteers were busy serving customers, selling wares, chatting to guests, making and serving hot drinks, washing up, and capturing the event on camera.
Volunteers Macaulay and Brandon manned the tombola table
While more volunteers manned the 'Guess How Many Sweets in the Stocking', 'Guess How Many Lego in the Stocking', and the Advent Calendar games
And Father Christmas was very ably assisted by his Chief Elf! (aka committee member Juliet!)
Father Christmas' Chief Elf was in charge of checking each child's ticket to see how old the child was, whether they had any Autism Spectrum Disorder, and if they did, whether they required a wrapped or unwrapped present. This all helped those children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder who attended the Fayre to enjoy the experience as much as possible.
People came to eat cake, sip hot chocolate, peruse the bric a brac table, buy Christmassy items, decorate Christmas hats, play games, and ...
... to see Father Christmas!
This little boy looks as if he's been very good this year, I'm sure!
The Santa Keys, hand made by our event co-ordinator, Amber, were very popular! As were the parcels of reindeer food!
Committee secretary, Rebecca, manned the Autism Spectrum Disorder table
Adrian Saunders, artist extraordinaire, browsing the Fayre, with the popular 'Decorate a Christmas Hat' table in the background
The time passed like lightning, and all too soon it was 3 pm, time to draw the raffle ...
Committee chairperson Julie, committee member Sue, and event co-ordinator Amber drawing the raffle, with help from members of the public
And then it was time to bid goodbye to all our lovely guests who joined in our fun at our Christmas Fayre, and yep, you guessed it, time for us to clean up. But even that task whizzed by with so many willing hands to make light work of the job.
We had a fantastic time both organising and putting on our Christmas Fayre! It was so great to meet so many members of the public and to be able to raise awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorders in our local area, and to be able to publicise our drop in support group to people who may not have been aware of it's existence.
We would also like to say a huge thank you to everyone at the United Reformed Church for the welcome they showed us and for their help in putting on our event; to all the local businesses who donated to the event; to all our volunteers for making items for the day and for coming along to help out (some even travelled up from Essex in the wintry weather to help out!); and to everyone who paid us a visit on the day and helped to make our event such a success!
And, although our Christmas Fayre may now be past, our branch has still got lots going on to keep us busy this month!
- We have our monthly drop in support group taking place at The Ark Childrens Centre on Tuesday, at 12.30 pm.
- Members of our committee will be taking part in a National Autistic Society focus group on special educational needs.
- And, just before Christmas, we will be putting on an incredibly fun Christmas Party for local children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and their siblings!
