Gallery: September 2007 Ashwell Show
Report by Liz Goodyear, Cat Section Team Leader
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Heather Shaw & Sheba ...................Sheba................. Our 2nd place Certificate
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Liz & Nikki......................... Our Stall ......................... Our Stall
Well, at long last the gods were being kind to us in England and the last
Bank Holiday weekend of the year was really lovely - sunny, warm, no rain or
wind.
We had a very succesful day at the show, although there did not seem quite as many
stalls this year. But we decided that this could well work in our favour because if
people only had so much to spend they may spend more with us!!
There were more horses than usual, lovely miniature ponies and many show
jumpers, apparently they had travelled long distance to get to the show. This was probably due to the appalling weather earlier in the year when many horse
shows were cancelled.
Being a small charity it does cross you mind from time to time whether you
are actually making any difference to the vast amount of unwanted animals
'out there'. However, we had two people come up to say hello this was a
RATS dog - one a terrier cross who is now doing agility and was
full of beans and the other - a german shepherd called Sheba. Sheba looked
absolutely stunning, coat glossy, tail wagging etc.
We also had four different people ask about cats on our rehoming board.
These all look very promising, so fingers-crossed once the vetting has been
done more animals will be going to new homes. This is obviously what it is all about, so I suppose our 'tip of the
iceberg' does help some animals to get really happy lives.
It is always a long day for us - up at 5.30 to walk dogs before we meet up
half way there along a lane at about 7.20. Stalls have to be up and ready
for the general public by 9.30 and you can bet your bottom dollar that some
people come round before you are ready!! Must not turn them away however, because we need every penny!!
We did a roaring trade in videos and Helens jams. We also sold pet carriers, leads
and pet toys etc., childrens toys, books and general bric-a-brac. Finally we had a 'Win a Furry Friend' stall - you pay a pound and win a soft toy every
time. This goes down very well and I think we took over one hundred pounds
on this part of the stall alone.
Unfortunately we manage to sit and eat most of the day (or so it seems) because we have to sample
the various foods on offer - starting with bacon rolls, then we had pork
scratchings (we actually took pasties home and did not eat them!!), but we
were tempted by the scones, jam and clotted cream with filter coffee -
delicious!! Very weak-willed and I am sure we put on pounds in weight!!
I'm sure this is because you sit out in the fresh air, people watching,
relaxed and not rushing around that you keep picking at the various foods,
plus, of course, things always smell wonderful when cooking outside (thats
our excuse but if you can think of a better one we are open to offers!!).
It was a very succesful day for us - we took over £330.00 and although we do have to pay forty-eight pound to go to this
particular show (the only one that does charge us), it is still not a bad
days work and all helps with the upkeep of the animals. Our stall also managed to win second in the 'Best Charity Stall' category at the show!
We normally arrive home just after six o'clock and then have to unload the van and car - not our favourite thing after being out all day. Still if we
took that sort of money each time we would be happy - just think we have to
start all over again next week as it is our own dog show!!
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