Swanage Craft Fayre & Summer Fete

On a beautiful summers day in Swanage the Rotary Craft Fair and Summer Fete drew the crowds to help raise a considerable sum for Rotary supported charities.

Rotary President Neil Hardy was quick to thank all those involved. "The Rotary Fete is a great community event" said Neil. "Lots of different organisation get together to put on a day that's really appreciated by townsfolk and visitors alike". "We have been holding the fete in one form or another for well over 40 years and the basic formula of a great family day out which raises money for good causes hasn't changed". This year's event was boosted by the participation of organisations such as Inner Wheel, Swanage Lions, Swanage Football club and Wareham Rotary as well as the many local craft and entertainment stalls. This enabled us to offer those attending a really good day with something for all the family. "It's really  heartening" said Neil, "that several people have approached us who came to the Rotary Fete when they were young and are now bringing their own children". "Many of them come to Swanage specifically to attend the fete as they know it's always on following the carnival so it's great to give the town a boost as well as make some money for good causes".

This year the money raised will go towards a number of local and international charities. "As many of you know I have a strong connection to the Swanage lifeboat, some my presidential charity is the Life Boathouse Appeal" said Neil. However, we still continue to work with other organisations to provide help to those in need. Many of these organisations such as Julia's House and the Lewis Manning hospices require continuing help as do Rotary charities such as PolioPlus which is getting very close to eliminating polio worldwide. "Our community in Swanage is very generous" said Neil. "They trust us to use the money we raise wisely and we are careful to do so".

Finally Neil was warm in his thanks to the organising committee who begin work on the carnival around Easter time. "David Frankham and his team do a tremendous job" said Neil. "It gets increasingly difficult to comply with the various restrictions placed on us but they always seem to come up with a way around things". Hopefully they will continue to do so for the next 40 years.

If you would like to learn more about Rotary or are interested in getting involved, please use the contact option at the top of the page to get in touch.

Here are details of the raffle winners - thanks to everyone who took part:

RAFFLE WINNERS
Prize No	Description	Ticket No	Name
1	Contact Doug Quayle about this page: (ALL fields required) Name Country/Region: Email address: Confirm email: Message (If you are a Rotarian, please name your club.) send message back to page above this... Fund Raising (OLD) back Swanage Rotary raises funds in our community to support our activities. As you can see from the list on the left hand side these are many and varied. Why not come along and support one of the events or give us a hand.