THANK YOU TO THE FUNDRAISERS WHO KEEP US GOING

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We are so very grateful to everyone that helps keep the hall going, from hirers to volunteers and sponsors.

Our monthly bills far exceed our income, so we rely on the generosity of others to keep afloat.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

After the success of SWEET LORRAINE in Feb 2024, 

Gary Wilmot MBE and friends (from tv, film and theatre fame) will be giving us a World Premiere of the new play HORSE on August 30th 2024.

A huge £2k has been raised so far so thank again to all those who have bought tickets, will be performing on stage, volunteers on the bar, on the door, everyone who tidies up or has helped in anyway to get this production on. 

A real community effort as ever.

THANK YOU.

GARY WILMOT AND FRIENDS

THANK YOU to all those who helped with the one-off reading of

 Sweet Lorraine by Gary Wilmot in Feb 2024

- From the volunteers on the door, the bar, the lights and sound, the raffle, the tidying up and setting of chairs, not to mention the actors.

- To everyone who bought tickets, gave donations, 

bought raffle tickets and drank the bar dry... 

So proud to announce we raised over £2k...

(£2,064.85 to be exact).

And we look forward to presenting more productions in the future.

THANK YOU Gary Wilmot  and Friends

Lee Dimond and friends have been getting together most years and raising funds for local charities including the Village Hall. This is a team effort, with friends on the BBQ and  Debbie, Lee's wife,  very much supporting the whole event and running the bar.

We have been lucky enough to receive £300 and £335  in 2022 and 2023 respectively.

"And our dear, departed friend Toby Davidson, who the trophy is named after “the Jugster", he was a major part of each night when he was with us".

THANK YOU Lee Dimond and friends

Margaret and John Noakes have opened their gorgeous garden as part of the National Gardens Scheme, Gardens Open for Charity for many years now. 

John was a keen gardener and cultivated a huge variety of snowdrops, winter cyclamen and irises. John’s love of gardening was triggered by his enjoyment of rock climbing in his youth, when he discovered alpine plants; 

he was fascinated by how such delicate little alpine species with their jewel-like flowers could survive in such harsh environments and wanted to learn more about them so joined the Alpine Garden Society. 

He and Margaret loved travelling to places such as Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan to see them growing in their natural habitats, and then growing them in their home garden served as a wonderful reminder of all the places they had been. 

Margaret’s interest in gardening, on the other hand, came through a love of ecology. ‘Butterflies and moths may still be hibernating but snowdrops

are a really useful early source of nectar for bees. I enjoy watching the birds using the feeders and the visits from great spotted woodpeckers and nuthatches, as well as sparrowhawks and tawny owls. The garden is a real magnet for wildlife, especially at this time of year.' The garden became a labour of love, which united their two interests.

Margaret continues the Open Garden and  this year raised money for the Ukraine and the Village Hall. We were lucky enough to receive £125.00. 

THANK YOU Margaret Noakes

Each summer Chris has kindly hosted a Classic car event with BBQ and drinks. Over the years he has raised thousands of pounds. 

We look forward to his paella event this summer and are so very grateful for his constant support.

 THANK YOU Chris and Gillie Mann.

With thanks to Chris Hodges for these words

During the time that he lived in Long Marston, Toby managed to weave himself into the fabric of the village: as a prominent member of the Horticultural Society, as Chairman of the village hall, as organiser of quizzes and band-nights and sometime Santa Claus, and as a part-time editor and advertising manager for the Village News. He was also a keen member of Long Marston Cricket Club, and later of Tring Cricket Club. 

Toby was an inveterate arranger of events, notably the now traditional annual village football match, and the occasional family picnic and games days. Toby pioneered both of these. And he was, of course, also a stalwart of Long Marston’s annual village pantomime - as actor, stage manager, painter of scenery and doer of anything else that Toby felt needed to be done. 

Toby was passionate about Long Marston and everybody in it. 

When the Queens Head looked as if it might be under threat, it was Toby who organised to get it formally listed as a ‘community asset’ to avoid the risk that the brewery might sell it off to developers. Without Toby’s efforts (along with a number of significant others) we could well have lost the village’s last pub, whose future now seems assured, and for that alone we owe him a debt. 

Toby left the Village Hall a substantial sum of money in his will - approx £39k.

We are incredibly grateful for this donation and this will go towards repairing our roof and will enable us to keep the Victory Hall open - something Toby would have approved of!

THANK YOU TOBY

To celebrate  the Coronation and  raise funds for the village hall, we had a  quiz night in 2023 and raised £1,080.00

THANK YOU to everyone that attended, bought raffle tickets, and supported the event.

Over the years the Horti Village Society have hosted events for the village from  Club Paradiso,  Pantomimes, Quiz nights and summer shows raising funds for local charities - including the village hall. 

THANK YOU to the Horti Village Society for all your donations and we look forward to more joint ventures in the future.

Together the village hall and the Horti Village Society  host 

the fireworks each year.