Wiltshire

Lackham College

January 2012

The students or Lackham College enjoyed a busy RAG week and raised over £700 for RABI. Events included tug of war, a bar night, staff gunging and a slave auction. Pictured is Pam Wills receiving a cheque from Students'
Union President Aimee Harman.

Tedworth Hunt

The stunning backdrop of Stowell Park, Pewsey was the venue for the opening meet of the Tedworth Hunt on a beautiful autumn morning. It provided the opportunity for the hunt to express its support of RABI and the important work that it does and, as a way of saying thank you to the farmers in their area, to make a donation, Pam Willis, RABI regional officer was present to receive a cheque for £1,300 from the hunt as well as a donation of almost £350 collected by the hunt supporters.

Wiltshire County Show

The committee from the Wiltshire County Show have donated £1,000 to RABI.  On hand to receive this was James Orme, RABI Trustee, Suzie Paton, former regional officer and Marcus Thorpe, RABI Wiltshire county chairman.

Wiltshire Antiques

October 2011

The RABI Wiltshire committee's private viewing of paintings, drawings, furniture and works of art at Semley Auctioneers in Shaftesbury, was attended by 50 guests.

As well as fascinating information and history on various sale items, provided by auctioneer Simon Pearce, they enjoyed wine and canapes organised by the committee. With a raffle for a local food hamper, the event raised £640.

Shoot for RABI

Barbury Shooting School in Wiltshire was the venue for the inaugural TH White Charity Event held in aid of RABI. Fourteen teams of four guns shot a challenging 80 sporting layout and 100 bird flush to battle for the prizes. Jason Beaven took the prize as Top Gun with a winning score of 66. He was also on the winning team from Wiggins, which did not miss a single target in the flush. The event raised over £1,300 for RABI.

Pewsey Hill Cream Tea

August 2011

The Cream Tea event held at Pewsey Hill Farm, Wiltshire must go down in the records as being one of the most memorable. Despite torrential rain meaning the venue had to be changed from a marquee to the beautiful old wooden beamed barn, complete with sheep and lambing pens at one end.

Angela Bowerman and her family had perfect English cream teas set out on decorated trestle tables and 90 guests arrived to enjoy the locally made scones, jam and cream. In addition and competing with the occasional bleating from the lambs, Mrs Rose, a retired dressmaker for the Queen gave an absolutely fascinating talk on her experiences as personal dressmaker to Her Majesty.

Suzie Paton, Regional Officer South West, said ‘It really was the most memorable and enjoyable event, and a huge thank you must go to Angela and her family and friends who worked so hard to clear the barn and prepare the teas. I think it’s an event that will also remain in the memory of Mrs Rose.’ The event raised £1,200.

  

Novel Idea to Raise Money for Farming Charity

July 2011

It’s not often that farming and crime writing are linked on the same menu, but Melanie and Jeremy Newman, of Winkworth Farm, near Malmesbury, came up with this ‘novel’ idea to raise funds for the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI), by arranging a Literary Luncheon.

Sat around tables in the beautifully converted Cotswold barn, at the exclusive Wiltshire countryside events venue, 80 guests enjoyed a wonderful three-course lunch and were entertained by local authors Matthew Fort and Martin O’Brien with tales of the history behind their publications.

Melanie said, ‘This was the first time we have arranged an event like this here, but guests really seemed to enjoy meeting the authors, so we hope to run similar lunches in the future.’

The lunch raised £720 for RABI, the farming charity which provides welfare advice, financial and practical support for members of the farming community who are in crisis or facing hardship and difficulties.

Matthew Fort took the guests on a culinary journey of Sicily, reading extracts from his book 'Sweet Honey, Bitter Lemons: Travels in Sicily on a Vespa'. Living in Gloucestershire Matthew was the Food and Drink editor of The Guardian for 15 years. He also writes for several other publications including The Observer and Country Living and has written three books with food related themes. He was co-presenter of “Market Kitchen” and is currently filming a new series of the “Great British Menu” for the BBC.

As well as being an accomplished travel writer for a number of years, Martin O’Brien fascinated the audience with the background to his French detective series featuring Daniel Jacquot . After nearly 30 years on the road, Marseilles and Provence became Martin’s favorite destination and is where the Jacquot series is set. The seventh book in the Jacquot series, The Dying Minutes, will be published this autumn by Random House.

Martin donated signed copies of his books to raise money for RABI.

Winkworth Farm Venue

Winkworth Farm, which is due to open on 1st August as a wedding and conference venue, has pledged to donate funds to RABI for every event that is held there this year.

Owners Jeremy and Melanie Newman have spent over a year renovating the farm's Cotswold stone barns to provide an all-weather venue to host functions.

Says Melanie 'We recognise that RABI provides invaluable support to people in the farming industry who are facing hardship, perhaps because they have retired with no savings, or are facing a crisis such as an illness in the family. RABI pays out over £50,000 a year in Wiltshire alone and we are delighted that we are able to support the charity's work in the county.'

For more information visit www.winkworthfarm.com.

Tel: 01749 838682 Mobile: 07825 336224 Email: pam.wills@rabi.org.uk