GEW is proud to sponsor a variety of worthy causes close to home, in Sussex and Surrey. One such sponsorship was a contribution to the recent Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations at Nutfield, near Redhill in Surrey. The community there held a series of events over the course of Jubilee Week, which raised valuable funds for various local charities.
Alison Dadswell, one of several fundraisers for the series of events, describes how the planning process began: “In 2019, a group of enthusiastic Nutfield villagers got together to start organising an event to celebrate VE Day. Little did we know that we would be postponing this event and that it would eventually become celebrations for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.”
The organisers worked very hard and managed to arrange a whole week of events based in a beautiful marquee in the grounds of Nutfield village school. They hosted a theatre production, a soul singer, a WI craft afternoon, a quiz night, a tea party for 350 people and a dinner dance for 250 people. Additionally the local village groups had displays in the marquee and gave presentations. As Alison explains: “We were lucky enough to secure sponsorship, including that from GEW, and had many donations and raffle prizes to support our efforts. We were also supported by Nutfield Parish Council.
“Thanks to the generosity of so many, we raised over £2000 for our charities… Nutfield Royal British Legion, Age Concern Merstham, Redhill, Reigate, and Eddie’s Heroes, a charity for a young lad who lives in our village. Throughout the week we saw over 1600 villagers, their friends and families, attending events in the marquee. It was a great success and certainly a week that will be remembered by all those who participated.”