2012 Jubilee Garden Party

2nd June 2012

A Message from Sandie

First and foremost, I’d like to thank Jane and Malcolm for all their hard work in organising the Royal Diamond Jubilee Garden Party on behalf of Irish Retriever Rescue.  Jane was the perfect hostess and made sure everything ran like clockwork.  Malcolm proved to be a very eloquent MC and spoke with great passion about IRR which held everyone’s interest and his banter with Brian aka Bandit the DJ was hysterical. 

Thank you also to Jane’s family who also worked so very hard to make the day a success, her Mum, Hazel Moore and sister Carole did a fantastic job serving refreshments and beautiful cakes which they had baked (yum yum) which were a great hit with everyone.  Her brother, our very own Simon, did a sterling job on the Sponsorship Stand.  Jane’s daughter Becky, sister-in-law Rozie and niece Louise who did Guess the Weight of the Cake, and thank you to everyone who sponsored Becky for her marathon.

Thanks also to Nanette and Carole’s neighbours Rachel, Tina & Steve who also helped on the refreshment stand.   A huge thank you to Nigel and Cindy who arrived on Thursday evening and were a great help in setting up gazebos, stands, etc., they also held the raffle and Cindy proved to be an excellent steward in the ring.  Yvette and Nicky worked like trojans all day grooming dogs.  Their only thanks was a cup of hairy coffee, so a big thanks to them – especially from all the wonderful dogs they groomed.  A special thanks to Jane & Malcolm’s neighbours, the very dapper Don & Joyce, who donated lots of bric a brac and ran the stall for us,  Jayne and John Hodgetts who ran the Teddy Bear stand,  Regina and Kevin who did the tombola, Chris and Chrissie who took the Entries.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who supported our cause and travelled a long distance to join in the festivities and helped make the day such a great success.

I would also like to thank all our fosterers who welcome our dogs into their homes and work so hard at rehabilitating them often knowing nothing about their background, our transporters who meet our dogs at unearthly hours of the morning and our home-checkers who vet potential homes in order to ensure our dogs are rehomed in the right environment for their particular needs.  You are the very backbone of IRR and a mere Thank You just doesn’t seem enough.There are a team of people who work so hard in the background who deserve a special thanks;  Chris and Chrissie Heath work tirelessly at fundraising, often getting up at 4am at the weekends to drive a long distance to a car boot sale.  Kathryn who fundraises for us in Ireland.  Jenny, who has recently taken over as Website Editor and is doing a great job, Belinda & Terry who produce our merchandise and a lot more besides. Thank you all so much, Irish Retriever Rescue could not exist without you.

Every year we say “this is the busiest year yet for IRR” and still, the numbers keep rising – even since starting to type this, 3 more dogs have arrived into our Rescue needing our help.  It is a full time job for us all, not least of all Jackie who works under tremendous pressure trying to find foster homes where they can be assessed and tested.  Lorraine (who has a full time job already) who has to place them in the right Forever Home according to their needs, her rehoming technique speaks for itself with no dog ever being returned due to inappropriate rehoming.  So far this year we have saved the lives of over 60 Golden Retrievers, which may not seem many compared to other Rescues, but is horrendous considering we are breed specific.

A MEGA THANK YOU to Lorraine and Jackie, without whom there would be no IRR.

Thank you all so much, your continued support in saving a Golden Retriever is very much appreciated.  See you next year.

Love
Sandie

Report from Jane White

This was mine and Malcolm’s first attempt at organising such a large event. We know now exactly how Belinda, Terry, Pauline and Steve must have felt, – it is such hard work before and after!! I was constantly watching the weather for days before hoping the sun would shine but we were not that lucky although it did stay dry

The whole day was a great success so everyone told me!! For me it was like a blur, busy making sure everything went smoothly. Apparently there were well over 250 people there, so I am sorry if Malcolm or I did not get to say hello. Quite a few people camped and Sandie came over and stayed with us for a few days, making her work for her keep too. I think Harvey and Tess wondered what all these people were doing in their garden.
There was entertainment throughout the day from Wilden Concert Choir, The Bar Hounds & Rozie and her Belly Dancing Girls.

Thank You

Malcolm was the MC backed up by lots of banter from our resident DJ Brian (Bandit).
Chrissie and Chris took charge of our few Novelty Class entries, running smoothly as ever. Then Chrissie helped out with the auction later in the day, but decided to have a rest half way through sitting on a rocking horse while waiting for Malcolm and Brian to finish their jokes.
Thank you to Jenny MacKenzie for doing an impromptu chat on Max and his story in the ring.
Becky, Louise & Rozie worked hard on How Many Dog Biscuits in the Jar, which was 172, and was won by James Kingham, Guess the Weight of the Cake which weighed 8lb 4oz was won by Mary Russell. Becky also promoted her Half Marathon in aid of IRR.
Yvette from Canine Capers worked tirelessly all day grooming dogs assisted by Nicky.
Carole, Hazel, Nanette, Rachel, Tina & Steve ran the cake stall and were rushed off their feet making a huge success. Thank you to everyone who made cakes for us to sell and Mr & Mrs Basi for making us lovely Samosas. I missed them all. I hear Carole ate her own body weight in cake!!
Regina, Kev, Val, Andy & Carol were on the tombola and it was certainly party time in there with the wine running freely with Val waving her flags when the choir started singing Rule Britannia.
Jayne and John ran the Bear Stall selling over 80 soft toys.
Don & Joyce, our wonderful neighbours, worked very hard on the Bric a Brac Stall.
Cindy & Nigel ran the Raffle and Cindy was also steward for the Novelty Classes.
Gavin & Kate Collyer for judging our Novelty Classes.
Simon ran the IRR information stand with Julie promoting South Staff First Responders.
Also thank you to Simon and Tim for cooking the BBQ on the evening for us.
Thank you to Wyre Forest District Council for your kind donation towards our party.
A special big THANK YOU to all of you who attended and made our Diamond Jubilee event so successful and a great big thank you to our neighbours and local residents who came out in force to support us – sorry about blocking the lane with all the cars !!!!
I apologise if I have left any of you out.

The total funds raised amounted to £1,597.28

Thank you everyone for your support.

Novelty Class Results

Our Sponsors

All of us at IRR would like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to all of the sponsors for your ongoing support of everything we are trying to do.