Planning for next year’s festival got off to a flying start with the Plumstead Make Merry Annual General Meeting (AGM) that was held today (13 September) in St Mark’s Hall.

A host of new faces joined the Make Merry team to discuss a provisional date (watch this space for further details!) and comments/feedback from this year’s festival. The AGM also saw the election of Chair Sarah J Harper, Vice-Chair Owen Proctor-Jackson, Secretary Deborah O’Boyle and Treasurer Gemma James.

Chair Sarah J Harper said: “It was great to see new faces at the Plumstead Make Merry AGM today and I am looking forward to planning the 2015 festival with everyone.”

The Make Merry Committee will meet again on 5 October 2014.

To find out more including how you can get involved, please email info@plumsteadmakemerry.co.uk and don’t forget to join us on Facebook or Twitter for regular updates.

Be the first to find out how we plan to celebrate our 40^th anniversary in 2015 and how you can get involved by joining us for our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Saturday 13th September at 2pm in St Mark’s Hall, Old Mill Road, SE18 1QE.

During our AGM, we will discuss next year’s Make Merry including the date it should be held, as well as electing members of our Committee including the Chair and Vice Chair. As an added treat, our AGM will be taking place during the September Plumstead Community Market (running from 11am-3pm), which features stalls from local business and community groups, as well as fresh food and drinks. So why not buy a little something, grab a hot beverage and join us at the AGM to have your say on your local festival.

For a full agenda and to register your interest in attending our AGM, please visit our Plumstead Make Merry AGM event page on Facebook.

The Plumstead Make Merry is proud to welcome its youngest ever Committee member, 14 year old Aisling Couldry.

Aisling was born in Plumstead in 2000 and has attended most, if not all the Make Merries since then.

At this year’s festival, she not only performed at the Bandstand as part of the Academy Performing Arts but also volunteered as a steward helping to set up and pack, run errands and assist on the Scout Stall.

By becoming part of the Committee, Aisling joins the small team of volunteers who work hard to put the festival together every year.

Aisling said: “I’m really excited about being part of the Plumstead Make Merry. It’s hard work but a lot of fun. The other volunteers really care about the festival and the community and it’s really nice to part of that. Work has already started and we’re all determined to make 2015 the best festival yet!”

2015 will mark the festival’s 40th anniversary and a fundraising campaign entitled ‘Save the Make Merry’ is already underway to help raise the necessary funds to ensure the event can take place. To find out how you can help save the festival, visit: www.plumsteadmakemerry.co.uk/donate.

This year’s festival may be over but the hard work has only just begun as we launch our fundraising campaign to Save the Plumstead Make Merry, which can no longer afford to run because of funding cuts.

The Plumstead Make Merry is the longest running community festival in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and is run on an entirely voluntary basis by members of the local community. It was first started in 1975 but since losing its council funding in 2011 as a result of central government cuts, has struggled to raise enough money to keep running beyond 2014.

Over 7000 people turned out for this year’s festival which was held on 7 June 2014 on Plumstead Common. Spectators were treated to live music and dance performances, a fun fair, food, and up to 80 stalls from local groups and businesses. For the first time, there was also an area dedicated to activities for under 5’s.

Sarah Harper, Chair of the Plumstead Make Merry Association, said: “Every year the festival grows in size and popularity but since the cut in our funding, it has been increasingly hard to raise money to pay for it. A lot of work goes into the Plumstead Make Merry and it is all done by volunteers who are passionate about the local area and bringing the community together.

“It will be an incredible shame if we lose the Plumstead Make Merry. It is a unique festival and an important part of the history of Plumstead. We are hoping to find the funds for next year, which marks our 40^th anniversary and will be doing everything we can to make sure the festival continues but we are completely reliant on the generosity of our supporters.”

“Now’s the time to show your support and help save your local festival. Please join our Save the Make Merry campaign and donate what you can.”

To join our campaign and make a donation, please visit our Save the Make Merry page on our website by using the following link: www.plumsteadmakemerry.co.uk/donate.

There’s so much to do at this year’s Plumstead Make Merry you may well struggle to find the time to fit it all in!

We’ve got storytelling from the mobile library, sports activities from Chalrton Athletic and Greenwich Rugby Club, plus workshops and demonstrations from Pyramid Martial Arts.

We’re also very excited to be introducing new activities for under 5s, including a dedicated soft play area as well as a variety of performances and workshops.

Best of all, all of the above is avaliable completely free of charge!

Our traditional funfair will also be in town, and these rides will incur a small fee.

For more info on all the different activities at this year’s festival check out our Activity webpages.

What do you see when you look in the fridge? Ingredients for dinner? Or do you see the ingredients for a work of art?

At this year’s Plumstead Make Merry local resident Sarah Doyle will be running a fruit and veg modelling contest and anyone attending the festival is welcome to enter their culinary creation!

To enter, simply bring your sculpture along to the Plumstead Make Merry on Saturday 7th June and ask a steward to point you in the direction of the contest. Make sure you enter your sculpture as early as you can as the contest will be decided on the day via a public vote, so you want as much time as possible for people to see your marvellous works of art!

In true veg competition style, rosettes will be awarded to the first, second and third placed models!

Below are some pictures of some sculptures Sarah made earlier to give you inspiration. A top tip from Sarah: “use cocktail sticks or spaghetti to hold your fruit and vegetable models together”.

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Following last year’s successful competition to find a front cover for our festival programme we once again turned to the children of Plumstead to design this year’s front cover. We were overwhelmed with the entries we received for this year’s contest, and as the committee gathered in a secret location deep in the heart of Plumstead we knew we had a very hard decision to make.

However, after lots of discussion we are proud to announce that this year’s winning entry was…

Ellie Nguyen Tran, 10 years old from Hawksmoor Primary School.

The committee was very impressed with Ellie’s fantastic use of colour, as well as the way she’d managed to include so many different aspects of the festival in her design.

Ellie’s design will feature on the front cover of the 2014 Plumstead Make Merry festival programme, which will be handed out free to everyone who attends the festival. Inside there will be details of all the acts appearing on The Bandstand and at The Acoustic Cafe, as well as details of the many activities at this year’s festivals.

The committee would like to thank everyone who entered their designs to this year’s competition, and we hope to display all the entries at The Acoustic Cafe for everyone to enjoy.

If you fancy a morning ride before this year’s festivities, why not join local cycle group Greenwich Cyclists (www.greenwichcyclists.org.uk) on a feeder ride from Cutty Sark Gardens to the Plumstead Make Merry on Plumstead Common.

The ride, which is promoting Bike week, will set off at 10am on 7 June 2014 from Cutty Sark Gardens (near the foot tunnel entrance) and head along the Thames Path towards the Thames Barrier. After a short refreshment break, the ride will continue via Maryon Park before finishing at the Plumstead Make Merry on Plumstead Common.

Once at the festival, there will be more bike related activities including Dr Bike sessions, security marking by the Metropolitan Police and free guides to local cycle routes.

The ride will be easily paced for all including children but cyclists are advised to bring some water and a spare inner tube, just in case!

Shiver me timbers! The Plumstead Make Merry is set to take to the high seas with a nautical themed parade that will open this year’s festival.

Local children and their parents are invited to take part in the parade by dressing up as pirates and sailors and dancing a jig to a sea shanty in front of the Bandstand. They will then join a parade around the festival site before prizes are awarded for the best costumes. So c’mon my hearties, make sure you start your summer at the Plumstead Make Merry!

Today marks exactly one month until the 39th Plumstead Make Merry!

Over the next few weeks we’ll be providing you with regular updates about all the great music, activities, food and stalls that you can expect to see at this year’s festival. We will also give you details on the many ways you can be a part of the Make Merry in 2014.

We’re still adding new parts to the festival as you keep coming up with brilliant ideas for how to make the Make Merry even better, and we’ll have exciting news about two of these new features very soon!

There’s also still time to enter our competition to design the front cover of our festival programme, which will be handed out to everyone at the festival. If you’re a budding artist head over to our activities page and download the competition form.

So, for the very latest Plumstead Make Merry news be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and put a big red circle around Saturday 7th June in your diary so you remember exactly when to join us on Plumstead Common to MAKE MERRY!

We can’t wait to see you all there.