Jazz night goes wild!

When the gates opened at 6.15 to allow the audience into RHS Hyde Hall for the annual Jazz on a Summer Evening event the people flooded in. Then kept coming. Then kept coming!

Tickets for the event were sold out weeks ago when Jazz on a Summer Evening, the kingpin event of "Hyde Hall Live" was publicised.

The Sunshine Kings came out from London to play for us in the Gardens to a packed arena and, as their name suggests, brought the sunshine with them. A beautiful balmy evening with a beautiful sunny backdrop saw the band provide first class entertainment.

Sadly the event had to be cancelled last year due to the circumstances prevailing at that time, but it was if people just wanted to get out because they could!

There was of course just one glitch. We had prepared raffle tickets in envelopes to assist with reduced contact in these "interesting" times, and although we doubled the number prepared from previous years we still ran out of tickets to sell! However, such was the magnificent audience that we had people donate what they were going to spend without any chance of winning a prize!

We would like to thank all you lovely people who came and supported our cause, and when we've worked out how much we have raised for St Luke's Hospice in Basildon we'll let you know.

Looking forward to seeing you all again next year!