The evening raised an amazing £1160 for the Friendship Link’s projects. So, thanks to everyone who made it all possible – to St Matthew’s Church for hosting us (and in particular Tom the AV wizard and the ladies who ran the hot drinks counter); Jason and all the helpers from the Link; to our Sierra Leonean friends who came down from London to give their very generous support; and, of course, to Steve Hollamby and Sussex Brass. Here are some of the photos that Colin Foy took with his formidable camera.

It was good to see a new team at the top of the scoreboard, though you’ll see from the scores that it was a close-run thing. “Stumped” are members (Roger Earp, Phil Isom, Bob Blizard, Sue Adams, Allison Pollard and Rob Adams) of the Bexhill & Sidley Walking Cricket Club. We Won’t Be Druv won the very difficult Picture Round with a score of 23/25. Our thanks to Dave H, to the Ark Alexandra team to set everything up, to everyone who donated a raffle prize, and to the many helpers who made sure the whole evening ran smoothly. The next Link event is the Sussex Brass Gala Concert on April 24th at St Matthew’s Church, St Leonards, starting at 7pm. See below for details.

To book, send your team leader’s name and the team’s name for the scoreboard to me by email (secretary.hslfl@gmail.com) or text to 07812 487378.

See you there!

Robin

Why not get a group from your workplace or social club?  It would make a brilliant social event: you learn a lot about wine and have a great deal of pleasure –  and it’s all in a very good cause.

22 tables of quizzers puzzled over Lesley-Ann’s clever questions, all ingeniously linked to the number 3. With Richard indisposed, Dave Hooper stepped into the breach and did a fantastic job, keeping everying moving at a good pace. Top ranking on the scoreboard kept changing hands throughout the evening. After Round 10, the 78’s, Pam’s People and Ladies Gone Gaga were tying on 97 (out of a possible 110). The 78’s finally snatching victory by winning the tie-breaker. The Picture Round (impossible, I thought) was won by the Blackbirds with a score of 22 out of 24.  Together with a raffle and a mini-auction, the evening raised £1120. An amazing fillip for the Sanitation Project.

Our thanks to Lesley-Ann, to Sophie and Elsa and the other runners, to Dave Hooper himself, to those who donated prizes and auction items, and to the Headteacher and Staff at St Paul’s for hosting the event.

And photos by Colin Foy.

The performance on the magnificent bandstand took place in glorious weather, and included many local favourites, finishing with Sussex Brass’s signature tune, Sussex By The Sea. Less common on their playlist is the national anthem of Sierra Leone, sung with gusto by ex-pat Sierra Leoneans, members of the friendship link who travelled down from London especially for the concert.

The Friendship Link is very grateful for the support of the audience and, of course, Sussex Brass. The band usually plays in a formal uniform, but on Sunday they were all wearing Sierra Leonean shirts. They looked terrific (and were probably glad to be a bit cooler!)

We’re grateful, too, to local accountants Ashdown Hurrey, who sponsored the event, covering the cost of several large posters on the seafront; and to Eat@ThePark, who very kindly lent us lots of deckchairs.  We haven’t quite totted everything up, but it looks as though the concert raised at least £750, which was amazingly generous of everyone who donated.

The next event will be this year’s Music Quiz on Friday September 13th.  Book a table through Robin on robin.gray1066@gmail.com.

Today (16th April) , our IPC members met at St Leonards CE Primary Academy to discuss our joint project ‘Protect our environment ‘with our partner schools in Sierra Leone.

The council looked at areas of recycling materials and ways of applying this both at home and school.

Also discussed was how to protect the community in our environment not only for ourselves but including ways to encourage wildlife and insects , through litter picking , vegetables and plants

Overall, the evening raised more than £1900 towards the link’s current projects in Hastings Sierra Leone.  An amazing result. The raffle alone raised over £500. We’re  very grateful to Dain Jensen at Kiley’s Karpets, who sponsored the evening, more than covering any bills, and donating a voucher for £250-worth of flooring.  And to Ark Alexandra Academy for very kindly hosting us. It must have been a big operation for Ark’s Maintenance Team to set up so many tables and chairs and tidy everything away afterwards. Our thanks to everyone who helped,  and in particular to Nola who organises all the bookings and to her granddaughter Elsa and her friend Sophie who sold masses of raffle tickets and sped around the hall collecting up answer-sheets.