A fulfilling and moving weekend on Sat 7th and Sun 8th May – raising over £600

There have been a number of incredibly moving and sometimes desperate days over the last 8 weeks.  Today was a day that was incredibly fulfilling as well as moving.  A group of us raised £531 at the Folk Festival over the weekend of 7th and 8th May, and we want to thank the generosity of the people in Holmfirth.  But mostly we want to thank the friends (young and less young) of Huw and the rest of his family for their inventiveness and efforts over the weekend.

The collecting boxes, buckets and presentation boards were first used on Sunday 1st May by the Hawleys at Thongsbridge Tennis Club where £19.40 was raised and then on Saturday 7th May by Will and Nigel Bowers at the Yorkshire Hockey Finals who raised £60.  Then they were used by a group of us at the Holmfirth Folk Festival.  And what happened over the weekend exceeded all our expectations – both financially and emotionally.

On Saturday 7th we had presentation boards and collection boxes outside the Church and had a refreshments cafe in the room upstairs.  We had home made cakes and savouries from Jen, Carys, Amie Crowther, Debbie Williams, Michelle and Charlotte Briggs, Jane Travis, Angela Bellas, Helen, Gaynor, Kate Benn and Ella Marshall.   Lyn Guntert, Heather Smith and Nick also brought stuff along. 

It was just what a team effort should be all about – creative, achieving a lot and helping eachother.  Jen, me, Michelle, Jane and Lyn were the adults there, but the stars were Carys, Heather, Kate, Ella and James Travis.   Jen, Michelle, Jane and Lyn looked after the kitchen; James, Heather and Carys were serving people; and Ella, Kate and me were out with the presentation boards, leaflets and collecting boxes.  It just worked out like that – we all had a job, but there was ONE irresistable driving force that pulled us all together………………Huw.

It’s incredible what you can do when you have got a single and powerful common purpose.  It was moving for us all at times – looking at those lovely presentation boards and talking to all and sundry about Huw.  But as far as I could tell all 9 of us loved it – we had a great laugh, raised the awareness of Huw, talked about Huw, loved Huw and raised a shed load of money for brain injured people.  In fact I know that all 9 of us enjoyed it – we felt fulfilled and knew we had done a truly great thing today.  And we learned a bit too – somehow each of us can feel a little bit wiser after each experience of the last 8 weeks. 

It was a priviledge to spend the day with such good friends, especially Huw and Carys’ teenage friends.  Huw and us 3 have got the best friends we could ask for.   And a big thank you to Sean Robertshaw for enabling us to do this today, and to my brother Steve – it was a conversation he had with someone 7 weeks ago that led us to today’s event.

Then, on Sunday 8th May, 8 of Huw’s friends were  outside the Church with collecting boxes at the folk festival.  Thank you so much to Sam Briggs, Sam Thompson, Louie, Sean Brennan, Ella and Heather (I think that’s everyone but please let us know if we missed anyone!)  They put in a great effort and even walked up the hill to bring back the boxes and donations.  They all came in and watched the footie and chatted.  It made our day to see them – we had a good laugh and some pop and crisps.  We love seeing Huw’s friends.  No matter what has happened, Huw still has friends.  We love his friends.  They will always be Huw’s friends.  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.   In total an amazing £531.78 was raised at the Folk Festival and has now been banked and added to the growing total. 

And a big thank you for the productive time and effort put in by the Hawleys and the Bowers over the last week or so.  Here’s a picture at the Yorkshire Hockey Finals of Will and his Dad Nige (who also picked up a winner’s medal at the hockey finals!)

Please Contact Us if you want to use the new official collection boxes and the presentation boards. And remember to look at Huw’s fantastic new logo and the Trust flyer and poster.  You can use them whenever you want.