Total Raised since November 2022 - £6,000
We would like to say a big thank you to Glen and Sally from The Swan pub. Ever since 2020 they have been making a monthly donation to the Chapel Gym for each pizza sold. To date they have donated more than £900 to the charity. The Swan has alsp sponsored some of our events with donating wine and prosecco – to make everything go off with a bang!
What an amazing achievement. So come on Wheaty people, let’s eat lots of pizzas from the Swan and then everyone benefits. They are so tasty as well!
We are thrilled to report that after six successful fundraising events since November 2022 we raised enough money for our new FRONT DOOR, a DEFIBRILLATOR, a new ROWING MACHINE and other pieces of gym equipment.
So thank you so much to everyone who supported our winter Raffle, the Door for a Door, Defibrillator Coin Collection/Fund, Chilli n’ Chocolate Night and our hugely enjoyable Fashion Show. Lastly thanks to all who entered our Holiday Competition.
The Chilli n’ Chocolate Night in February alone raised £1,780. Thank you so much to Maria Azcona for catering for over 100 people, to Bob Halford for the music, to all those businesses who donated raffle prizes and everyone who helped on the night. Not to forget all of you who came to support us. We had to close ticket sales ten days before the event – even then we know it was a squeeze in the hall.
The Fashion Show was another sell-out event on March 30th and raised £1,645. What fun everyone had! By far the most work was put in by Sophie Beddow of Tortue UK and Ali Suss-Francksen of Forever Cinderella, ably assisted by Michelle Rodd of She’s Got Hattitude. So thank you so much you wonderful ladies! We hope you enjoyed it as much as the audience. And models, you were all fabulous. A familiar face in there was the Chapel Gym’s own Lauren Caisley, one of our volunteer PTs, so thanks for stepping out on the catwalk for us. We must also thank Etta Stobs-Stobart of Tropic for helping with the make-up and all the stall holders who added to the event with their products and their extremely generous raffle prizes. The raffle alone raised over £700.
We are particularly grateful to Claire Farley of 2by2 Holidays and Auriel Holidays for her support for our Holiday Competition. Claire sponsored the competition which involved people guessing pre-selected numbers in the correct order. The closest entry matched 3 and they were given a small prize. Claire is based in the village at 2 Place Farm and has years of experience organising tailor-made, exciting, holidays so do give her company a look.
The community’s support for our fund raising is most heartening. The gym is truly “a community gym” Further updates very soon.
So what's our news?
Kris Schug of French and Lines, a local carpenter, has fashioned a beautiful new front door for us, reproducing the style of the old door. Gone are the draughts and we should be snug when the cold comes.
We are extremely grateful to John Pope of Wayne’s Fund for offering a grant of £500 towards the defibrillator and for his expert advice and help in buying it.
In May, we were at the Herts County Show. The Chapel Gym was selected as a finalist in The Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire’s Entrepreneurs Challenge. This is for innovative Hertfordshire businesses under 3 years old. We had a pitch at the Show and gave a short presentation to the judges on the Sunday. Sadly we weren’t among the winners but we have made wonderful contacts with the judges and other contestants.
How can you help us?
Accoustics and heating
Our biggest longer-term goal is still to raise funds for central heating systems in both the Chapel Halls and the Gym. We just about made it through our first winter but the heating is far from ideal and has cost us a large amount in electricity bills. Winter will soon be upon us so we need a more long term solution. Our preferred solution is air source heat pumps and radiators, which will be energy efficient, low-carbon and in line with environmental sustainability goals. And solar panels on the Halls roof. This is a major investment in both buildings of course but will equip them really well for the future. If anyone has any contacts with companies involved in this sort of activity then please get in touch.
Our other priority is to improve the acoustics in the Halls. If anyone knows any experts in this field or has experience of improving acoustics in community halls such as ours we would love to hear from you.
And finally we need a first class sound system for the Halls.
Ideas for any of these projects?
Email finance@chapelgym.co.uk