££Thousands Raised by Packastickathon Competition!

The normal work team comprises adults with mental and physical disabilities, who benefit from the social contact and work experience of packing wood kindling sticks for sale to support the charity.  However, they have had to self-isolate at home. 

John Proud of the Rotary Club of Northallerton stepped in to help by organising a competition called Packastickathon, recruiting 10 teams of 6 people to pack the kindling sticks against the clock.  Some teams were Rotary members, but others were volunteers from sports teams, the Wombles of Hambleton litter-picking group, and other members of the public.  Teams worked in 2-hour slots over 3 weekends, with social distancing and sanitisation carefully observed throughout.  The work was frenetic and hard, putting sticks rapidly into vertical metal hoppers to be bagged and sealed for sale, yet the mood of all teams was cheerful and enthusiastic, with a keen edge of competition to motivate the action.

The prize of £100 and a fine wood trophy for the fastest team, who bagged a total of 88 large bags in their allotted time, was presented to the Harlsey Hawks (East Harlsey ladies’ cricket team) by Tracey Taylor, the Chopsticks Operations and Services Supervisor.  She expressed her deep appreciation for the efforts of all teams and for the organisation by the Rotary Club of Northallerton.  The competition helped ensure that Chopsticks will be able to supply sufficient kindling for local people’s fires in the autumn and winter. 

The value to the charity of all the bags packed was ….£4,837, a magnificent result.

For further information, go to http://www.facebook.com/rotarynorthallerton, or the Club’s website http://www.northallertonrotary.org.uk. ; The Harlsey Hawks will put their £100 prize towards funding a new pavilion; for more details visit http://www.facebook.com/1831358653818337/ or http://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/eastharlseycricketclub.