Of course, if you have some pennies to spend, there are over seventy stalls, a fun fair, and of course some bargains in our very own Information Tent to buy, including lots of English and Hindi DVD’s, as well as children’s toys, all proceeds from their sales go towards funding the festival for next year!

Yesterday we told you about the free workshops happening at the festival, today we would like to remind you that there are many other areas around the festival site offering FREE activities, these include tug-of-war and rugby activities by the Greenwich Rugby Football Club; storytelling by the Mobile Library; fire safety by the Fire Brigade Plumstead branch; inflatable goal by Charlton Athletic Community Trust, and we have an inflatable assault course and bungee trampolines too!

Don’t forget you can bring along yours and see the entries for our ‘Food Art’ competition in the Acoustic Cafe, don’t forget to vote for your favourite.

You can also buy refreshments there, including tea, coffee and soft drinks, as well as snacks and lots of delicious cakes. All money raised from the sale of refreshments in our Cafe area is put towards the funding of the festival.

Your support is very much appreciated.

Lots of workshops planned for Saturday, all free to take part in, and most open to all ages:

In our Workshop Tent will be ‘Plumstead Manor Steel Band’, ‘The Cowfoot Prince’ will be encouraging some interactive storytelling, and the ‘Wandsworth Uke Troop’ can teach you the basics of playing ukelele.

In St. Mark’s Church Hall ‘Art Plumstead’ will be running watercolour workshops, and ‘Plumstead Harmonies’ will try to bring out your best singing voice.

Around the site you could also learn some dance moves from ‘Folk Dance Remixed’ who will be running a variety of sessions in their area including street dance, Maypole, and also Ceilidh jams.

Strictly for our under 5’s the ‘Under 1 Roof’ area will be running sessions by ‘Diddi Dance’, ‘Theatre Tots’, ‘Pyramid Martial Arts’ and ‘Boppin’ Bunnies’, as well as having a soft play area.

And in our Information Tent, ‘Art Plumstead’ will be running a felt making workshop too.

All that and a whole host of other things to do and see, we’ll tell you more tomorrow…

The Plumstead Make Merry Association is delighted to announce that it has received a £6,756 grant from the Big Lottery’s Awards4All fund, towards this year’s festival.  “The money will pay for essentials such as the bandstand, sound equipment, insurance, printing, toilets and the like.  It means that the event will definitely go ahead,” declared Sarah Harper, Chair of the organisation.  “We are all thrilled to bits.”

 

The ever-popular Plumstead Make Merry, which is the borough’s longest-running community festival, will celebrate its 40^th anniversary on 6^th June on Plumstead Common.  Highlights include an eclectic mix of music, dance and displays, stalls, international food and a traditional funfair.  Over 7,000 revellers attended last year.

 

The organisers – a handful of local volunteers – have also secured a Community Arts grant of £2,655, which will fund workshops.  Local people be will able to try a variety of art-related activities, including water colouring, African drumming, maypole dancing (with a modern twist!) and much more.  This is the first grant the festival has received from the Royal Borough of Greenwich, since cut-backs in 2010.  Skipton Building Society has also donated £500 and the group has been busy fundraising at grassroots level by running activities for tots, raffles and bring & buy sales.  “We are also extremely grateful for the support we have been receiving from Art Plumstead, the History Mill, Greenwich Rugby Football Club, the Old Mill public house, Hop Stuff, Aperture Woolwich Photographic Society, the Royal Greenwich Scout Association and countless local people,” said Deborah O’Boyle, the committee’s fundraiser.  “Without them, the event just could not happen.”

 

However, fundraising does not stop here.  In order to top up funds needed for this year and to help secure the festival’s future, the group has set up a crowdfunding project with a target of £5,000.  Visit the BuzzBnk website for further details (https://buzzbnk.org/plumsteadmakemerry) or donate using PayPal via the Plumstead Make Merry website (https://plumsteadmakemerry.co.uk/donate/).

The 2015 Plumstead Make Merry has been granted £2665 from the Royal Borough of Greenwich’s Community Arts Fund.

This grant is to pay for workshop providers, and half venue costs for workshop space at the festival, this amounts to half the cost of  the hire of a Workshop Tent, and also space in St. Mark’s Church Hall.

It means that we can hire equipment for workshops to be run by Art Plumstead and Plumstead Harmonies, and also contract specific workshop providers such as Folk Dance Remixed and The Cowfoot Prince, amongst others.

Local people be will able to try a variety of art-related activities, including water colouring, African drumming, maypole dancing (with a modern twist!) and much more.  This is the first grant the festival has received from the Royal Borough of Greenwich, since cut-backs in 2010.

Skipton Building Society has also donated £500 and the group has been busy fundraising at grassroots level by running activities for tots, raffles and bring & buy sales.  “We are also extremely grateful for the support we have been receiving from Art Plumstead, the History Mill, Greenwich Rugby Football Club, the Old Mill public house, Hop Stuff, Aperture Woolwich Photographic Society, the Royal Greenwich Scout Association and countless local people,” said Deborah O’Boyle, the committee’s fundraiser.  “Without them, the event just could not happen.”

However, fundraising does not stop here.  In order to top up funds needed for this year and to help secure the festival’s future, the group has set up a crowdfunding project with a target of £5,000.  Visit the BuzzBnk website for further details (https://buzzbnk.org/plumsteadmakemerry) or donate using PayPal via the Plumstead Make Merry website (https://plumsteadmakemerry.co.uk/donate/).

Our Information Stall on Saturday will also be selling a variety of things to raise funds for next year’s festival, these include a whole host of DVD’s, including some Hindi movies that have been kindly donated to us. Come and grab a bargain and support us at the same time.

As well as the usual friendly faces to answer your questions about the festival, you can get your event programme there, complete a feedback form, or pick up a flyer about our work or other local organisations that are not able to attend themselves, and even make a donation should you want to.

You may also be able to take part in some artwork with Art Plumstead there.

It’s all happening in our Information Tent. See you there on Saturday!     All donations and money from sales will go towards funding the festival.

Local artist Sarah Doyle has created some fantastic Plumstead-themed activity sheets for the Plumstead Make Merry website. You can find them via this link https://plumsteadmakemerry.co.uk/resou…/childrens-activities/
If you like them, and feel like expressing your thanks if you have a few pennies to spare you could always donate to the festival at https://buzzbnk.org/plumsteadmakemerry or via PayPal by simply clicking on our ‘donate’ button on the ‘Save The Make Merry’ page.

 

Please note that the Buzzbnk fundraising scheme is only available until 22nd June 2015.  After that date donations can be made via PayPal.

 

We welcome the return of our ‘Food Art’ competition to this year’s festival. This year we have themes of ’40’, ‘Plumstead’, and ‘1975’, to coincide with our 40th anniversary, but to be honest we would love to see any of your food art creations. Bring them along to the Acoustic Cafe on Saturday, where they will be displayed for all to see, vote and smile upon. You never know, you may be a winner!

Could we borrow you for a couple minutes? 5 minutes? Half an hour? A year?

The Plumstead Make Merry would not happen without its volunteers and supporters and we are always looking for an extra pair of hands to lend a hand. So whether you have couple of minutes to spare or are considering a longer-term commitment, below are some great ideas on how you could get involved:

2 minutes – Make a donation, be it small or large towards our Save the Make Merry campaign. We still need funds to stage this year’s 40th anniversary event and every penny counts so why not visit our crowdfunding website now.

5 minutes – Help us spread the word by sharing this page on Facebook or Twitter, retweeting our Tweets @PlumMakeMerry or linking to our website. The more people who donate, volunteer, perform, run a stall/activity or just come along on the day, the better.

15 minutes – Follow us on Facebook or Twitter to find out about our other activities and join in the conversation.

30 minutes – Write to your local paper about us, mention us in your blog, apply to perform or run a stall/activity at this year’s festival.

A few hours – Why not help us on the day of the festival? This need not be all day, just an hour or two would be great and you could be anything from a steward to a helping hand in our Acoustic cafe. Not only will you be part of the longest running community event in Greenwich and meet new people but you could also include this activity on a CV or UCAS application or to gain International Baccalaureate or Duke of Edinburgh Award points. Visit our Volunteer page to find out more.

A regular commitment – Why not join the Committee? We’re a friendly bunch and the more the merrier! Share your skills and learn new ones.

If you have any questions about getting involved in the Plumstead Make Merry, please get in touch by emailing info@plumsteadmakemerry.co.uk.

The Plumstead Make Merry, the longest running community festival in the Royal Borough of Greenwich is looking to raise £5,000 in a bid to make sure the event reaches its 40^th anniversary in June 2015.

The Plumstead Make Merry is an annual festival of arts, music and activities which is run on a voluntary basis by members of the local community. Since losing its council funding in 2011 as a result of central government cuts, the festival has struggled to continue raising enough funds to sustain its long-term future and is now calling on the local community to help raise £5,000 for this year’s festival. Through a specially devised site, people can donate varying amounts to help the festival reach its target of £5,000. There is an incentive for each donation including free refreshments to a mention in the 40^th anniversary commemorative programme. Big donors could even have the Bandstand or Acoustic Café named in their honour.

Sarah Harper, Chair of the Plumstead Make Merry Association, said: “Contrary to popular belief, the festival has never been organised by the local authority. It is run entirely by a small group of volunteers who work hard all year round to organise the event including raising enough funds to make sure the Make Merry continues to take place”.

“Sadly, due to severe restrictions to income over the last few years, the future of the Plumstead Make Merry is in serious jeopardy. We need everybody to rally round and help us save the festival – the Plumstead Make Merry is counting you!”

To find out more and donate, please visit: https://buzzbnk.org/PlumsteadMakeMerry