Ashtead Village Day

Ashtead Rotary Village Day

11am, Saturday 10th June 2023

Queen Elizabeth II Field, Barnet Wood Lane, KT21 2BZ

Ashtead Village Day is organised every year by Ashtead Rotary Club and takes place on the second Saturday in June (the weekend following the Epsom Derby). Its main focus is to provide a full day of entertainment for all those within the local Ashtead community. In addition, it serves to raise funds with which Ashtead Rotary Club can support both local and international charitable needs.

For a flavour of Ashtead Rotary Village Day see these films: from 2016 produced by Johanna Fry Films and from 2017 by Fred Mitchell and Double-M Video.

The main entertainment takes place in the field arena with shows and participation events held throughout the day. New headline acts are arranged every year including a celebrity opening to the event! In addition to the arena, other entertainment is provided including live music acts, funfair rides, a dog show, a Punch and Judy show, a demonstration of stationary engines and bouncy castles.

The event includes a wide range of over 100 stalls, from youth organisations and hobby clubs to shops, businesses and charities. The stalls not only put on great entertainment during the day with displays, prize competitions and gift ideas but can also provide inspiration for ways to get involved with the local community year round either through a new hobby or a way to lend a hand. If you run a local business, club or other organisation and would like more information about taking a stall at next year's event, please express your interest using the form below. Introductory rates are available for groups who have not previously attended Village Day.

Entry to Village Day is by programme only. These can be purchased in advance from local retailers at a reduced price. Entry prices and a list of the local retailers are announced in May before the event. Please see current event page for details.

So come and have fun! It is a spectacular day out for the whole family, from infants to grandparents and all those in between.

Impact of Football Club Planning Proposals to Village Day, September 2022

Ashtead Rotary Club currently has 25 full members and 7 associate members and has been running Village Day for 37 years.

In 2022 Ashtead Rotary made over £30,000 pounds for its charity fund, which will be distributed over the following year to many local and international charitable projects. More importantly, Village Day enables approximately 100 other organisations to raise substantial funds towards their allotted charities, raising an estimated further £50,000 in each recent year for good causes. Village Day is also Ashtead Football Club’s largest fund-raising day, with them reporting a record day in 2022.

Ashtead Rotary recognises the valuable contribution the Football Club makes to the community and appreciates that we are only one of the many interested parties to use the recreation ground. We enjoy a very good working relationship with the Football Club, built up over 20 years and appreciate the support they provide towards Village Day each year.

Many residents have asked what impact the present proposals for an artificial grass pitch will have on Village Day. These can be summarised as follows:

• Based on the current artificial grass pitch layout, approximately 25% of stalls will be lost.
• The current sites for the Ashtead Churches tea tent, local band, dog show, Rotary caravan, police, and first aid would also need to be relocated thereby reducing the stalls beyond the 25% reduction above.
• The car procession and static display are likely to be casualties.
• The fair ground vehicles could have difficulty accessing the ground if wet due to the restricted available width.
• The surface area within the proposed pitch would not be suitable for use on Village Day under the present proposals as it poses serious health and safety problems with very limited access and egress.
• The Football Club has advised that only studded footwear may be used on the new surface and that a specifically designed platform would be required to protect the surface during Village Day. The financial impact of such a provision would likely preclude the use of the fenced area completely and there would be concerns over any additional penalty cost to Ashtead Rotary if the new pitch surface is damaged.

It has been suggested that the top field could be used for stalls and entertainment. However this area is used to park between 200 and 300 stallholder/volunteer vehicles to give more space on the main field. The police have requested that as many vehicles as possible are kept off the local roads which do become congested on Village Day.  A small area on the top field is also reserved for family picnics.

Ashtead Rotary Club

21 September 2022