Ninfield Gala Night - report from Sam Guard

Carnival committee spokesman and parish councillor Sam Guard reports: “The dress code was formal, so tuxedos and sequins were on display and 150 people sat down to enjoy an evening of Fish and Chips, supplied by the Chip Basket in Sidley, then a 50 minute comedy revue performed by the Brighton Revue Company – Roger Alborough, Jenny Coulston, John Gould and Samantha Hughes, which was received with a standing ovation, loud cheers and much acclaim. “After the show, M.C Mark Wilkins introduced the Chairman of Ninfield Carnival Assoc. James Parker and Treasurer Andy Gale to present the fundraising cheques to their charities of the past year, The Alzheimers Society, and Alzheimers Research and Trust.

“Jodie Thompson, Susie Hewer and local charity shop owner Shelly-Anne Golding received £2,500 for the Research and Trust, while Cllr Joy Hughes received a cheque for the same £2,500 on behalf of the Alzheimers Society.

“This is the second year that the Carnival have supported these charities and the total amount given to each has been £5000.

“The next presentations were The Village Award, which celebrates an ‘Unsung Hero’ in the village and the newly created Roger Kent Memorial Award, a beautiful sculpted wooden trophy designed and crafted by Robin Goldsmith in honour of the late Chairman of the Parish Council, for Extraordinary Achievement in the last year.

“New Chairman, Cllr Kaye Crittell was very pleased with the amount of nominations that had come in from local residents for both awards and she presented the Village Award to Tony Sinclair for his dedication and care for the Recreation Ground and “for planting more daffodil bulbs round the village than he’d care to remember.”

The Roger Kent award was presented by Carole Kent to the Carnival Association for their hard work in fundraising and creating such events as the Pram Race, Carnival and Village New Year’s Eve Party.

Chairman James Parker again thanked the Village of Ninfield for their constant support at the events and said that the award would be on display in the Working Mens Club where the committee held their meetings. Carole and her family had also given a Millenium bottle of whisky, that had been given to Roger by one of his companies, for auction and the total raised on the night was £160. The Raffle was then drawn, with over 20 prizes donated, and that raised £456, many thanks were given to Joy Hughes and Carole Kent for their stirling efforts.

Both the last amounts totalling £616 were donated to the Memorial Hall Floor Fund. Chairman of the Hall committee, Adrian Dommersen was “delighted that such a substantial amount could be put into the fundraising account as the refurbishment of the floor is vital and will be very costly”.

The evening ended with dancing to the sounds of ‘Disco Dan’ and carriages were at midnight.”

Samantha, who organised the event, added: “It takes some organising and a few sleepless nights. And so many thanks are due to all the helpers who transformed the hall into a fantastic dinner theatre. But, once again this has been a wonderful evening...with people coming together in celebration, and to have fun in our lovely, historic Memorial Hall.. It’s so good that charities nationwide and locally can all benefit from such events as these and I hope everyone who came tonight can keep helping us raise the much needed funds to renew the Hall floor.”