Generous Community Support Leads to Over £200 Raised for Uttoxeter Gateway Club at the Uttoxeter Lions Cracker Night 2023
The Uttoxeter Lions Cracker Night was a resounding success for Uttoxeter Gateway Club. It was a delight to witness many of our members engaging with the festivities and visiting our Tombola Stall at the Town Hall.
Our heartfelt appreciation goes to Pauline for sorting out all the Tombola prizes and tickets, our exceptional team of “Elf volunteers” for their unwavering dedication in selling tickets, and the generous Uttoxeter residents who supported Uttoxeter Gateway Club by purchasing tickets. The event was a resounding success, with all tickets sold and over £200.00 raised.
We extend our warmest gratitude to the Uttoxeter Lions for organizing this annual event.
We eagerly await the upcoming event at Uttoxeter Cinebowl, which we anticipate will be another triumphant occasion. Keep an eye out for our next report to stay updated on the latest developments.
Until next time…
Uttoxeter Gateway Club Unforgettable Christmas Meal: A Magical Evening of Festive Fun, Friendship, and Community Spirit
Oh, what a magical night! The Uttoxeter Gateway Club members, staff, volunteers, and trustees gathered together with carers and family to celebrate Christmas in style with an unforgettable Christmas meal at the New Broom at Checkley. The doors were thrown open to give us all a warm welcome, and DJ Paul set the scene with disco lights and background music. Laughter filled the room as we pulled crackers, read jokes, and donned our festive hats.
The delicious starters arrived, and the clatter of cutlery replaced the chatter. We savoured every bite of the turkey with all the trimmings, including a delightful selection of vegetables, sprouts included of course. My personal highlight was the crispy pig in a blanket, accompanied by rich gravy, a true delight. A huge thank you to the kitchen elves for their culinary magic!
After the main course, we cleared our plates to make room for a tasty portion of Christmas pudding and piping hot custard. The Black Eyed Peas got the toes tapping, and the room exploded with energy as we danced the night away. We even sneaked in a quick Time Warp! Time seemed to fly by, and before we knew it, taxis were arriving to bring the evening to a close.
But not before our lovely members were presented with Christmas gifts, thanks to the kindness of Uttoxeter Waitrose, who donated ‘Snapper’ the Venus flytrap as featured in the John Lewis Christmas advert. Each member also received a Cadbury’s selection box, kindly donated by Uttoxeter NFU Mutual. We are truly grateful for all the donations received throughout the year, which make such events as our Christmas Party possible.
The hard work of our staff, volunteers, and trustees is truly appreciated, and it is reflected in the joy on the faces of our members.
Our festivities are in full swing, so before the blink of an eye it is all over, let me take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous and healthy New Year!
Until next time…
What a treat we had at Uttoxeter Gateway Club with U3A!
The Uttoxeter U3A Ukulele Band turned out in style starting our Christmas Season with a smile and Christmas jumpers in abundance. The atmosphere of anticipation crackled through the air as our members waited patiently for the band.
As soon as they appeared on stage the room was filled with the sound of applause and shakers being waved. With song sheets at the ready, the roof was quickly raised by the voices of our enthusiastic members, their families and carers. With thanks to Karen Moore for her kind donation of percussion instruments, the sound of tambourines, maracas and egg shakers joined the voices in a round of happy delight.
U3A played a selection of favourites including American Pie, Brown Eyed Girl and Hi Ho Silver Lining which quickly warmed the vocal cords. After a brief interval for the tea or coffee and a mince pies (thanks to our wonderful Pauline) the fun continued with a homage to Christmas to get us in the festive spirit.
The U3A Ukulele Band are playing again later this year to share the joy with a number of the elderly residents of Uttoxeter and I think Uttoxeter Gateway Club can say that they are in for a real treat. Thank you U3A. We hope to hear from you again in the new year.
The next thrilling adventure on Tuesday next week is a trip to the Cinebowl but rather than bowling this time we are going to see a film! So be there in time for the start and remember to be collected afterwards a bit later at 8.45pm.
Until next time…
The Gateway Club Chester Zoo Trip 2023
Last Tuesday night’s bingo, whilst a success, was very much overshadowed by the excitement building about the trip to Chester Zoo.
Saturday dawned with the promise of a glorious day. Everyone met at the Tesco bus stop and boarded the coach. Eager smiles of anticipation in abundance and that was just the staff and volunteers. These smiles were clearly outshone by those of our members and chatter of excitement filled the air. The journey wasn’t much quieter.
Chester Zoo provides such pleasure for everyone. From a shy Rhinoceros, to a nosey Meerkat. Pretty Flamingos and swift swimming Penguins, there were so many delightful species of our wonderful animal, bird and insect kingdoms to take in.
Everyone entered into the spirit of the day experiencing the joy of being able to see these beautiful and exotic creatures.
All too soon the day was drawing to a close and it was time everyone to climb back on to the bus and head for home. With a reluctant last glance back we were Uttoxeter bound. On the journey home the atmosphere was a little more subdued and for some of our members the day had been particularly exhausting! Would they want to do it again sometime? A resounding yes!
Thank you to all our wonderful Staff, Volunteers and Trustees without whom special days out simply could not happen. Not forgetting our brilliant members whose obvious pleasure from events such as this, makes all the hard work fundraising worthwhile.
Our next adventure will be a Treasure Trail starting at Wilfred House.
Until next time…
The day dawned with promise, the sun was shining at Lark in the Park 2023.
However, as the clouds rolled in we arrived at Bramshall Park and started to pull our stand together. The team of volunteers helped Pauline and Fay set up as the rain started. Our Guess the Name of the Dog had a front row seat. We also had a celebrity guest in the form of Minnie Mouse, well Stacey dressed up as was good enough.
The rain came and it did put a bit of a damper on the start of the afternoon but before you knew it the sun broke through and the crowds started arriving.
The children certainly warmed to Minnie and she was a real boost in helping our Wheelbarrow Raffle sales. Volunteers, Carys and Andrew, supported Sue out front, persuading people to have a go on the Tombola, and before we knew it the list of names for the dog were growing too.
The day concluded with a delighted gentleman, called Paul, winning the Wheelbarrow Raffle and our lovely dog found a new home and is now called Binx. As the clouds and crowds drifted away, the afternoon drew to a close. Yet another successful Lark in the Park.
Thank you Uttoxeter Lions and a huge thank you to YOU the public for once again being so generous especially during this challenging time of hardship.
Until next time…
Amazing Prizes at Lark in the Park
Here is a preview of our candidate for guess the name of the dog for Lark in the Park on Saturday 26th August at Bramshall Park from 1.00pm. Come along and have a go and he could be coming home with you! Or try your luck on our Tombola or win amazing prizes including the contents of the wheelbarrow in our raffle.
Fingers crossed for good weather.
We hope to see you at The Uttoxeter Lions ‘Lark in the Park’ on Saturday 26th August starting at 1.00pm. We will be there so why not drop by and check out the wonderful array of goodies in our wheelbarrow raffle and better still buy a ticket or two! Other surprises on our stand are worth a visit too and of course smiles in abundance, after all we are Uttoxeter Gateway Club.
Until next time…
Another fun night at Club this week!
House of Games was the theme, and the evening certainly stretched the brain cells and taste buds. Our members were divided into three teams, with each team seated around a table. A team captain was chosen to present their answers to the the Club Leaders. The evenings game was in the form of a Quiz Night.
Sue kicked off with a general knowledge round. Each team given three possible answers, answer A, answer B or answer C. It was really good to see the members conferring with each other before their team captain gave their answers.
The Challenging Picture Round!
Next round was certainly a challenge and there were some rather interesting faces being pulled as the members were give a series of savoury snack to taste by Di, their challenge to decide what flavour it was meant to be? The first one was suppose to be Chilli, however, I concluded the nearest that snack had been Chilli was if it sat in the fridge! The last was very strong and a flavour that certainly was hanging around in the mouth providing the perfect opportunity to take a break for tuck shop break. I can’t help but get the feeling Tuck Shop was very popular as an orderly queue was quickly formed in front of Di as she served everyone.
Drink and snack purchased it was back to the game, further rounds consisted of guessing the numbers of items in jars. The jars were lined up on the table and no one was allowed to touch them. Members had to give their best estimate. From the number of £2.00 coins in one jar, to the number of discs that were not blue in another jar (There were a lot of blue discs), to name two examples.
There was a picture round too. The pictures were challenging and I definitely thought one looked like the eye of a crocodile but apparently it was a toad! Well having never been eyeballed by either, how was I to know?
Another evening of fun and conversation with friends was enjoyed and everyone went off for the Easter Break to return on the 11th April for Easter Bingo.
Happy Easter everyone!
Well as they say, it’s all over bar the shouting!
We all got active with Angie
We all wished Alison a very Happy Birthday!
This week saw the celebration of one of our regular members Alison, who turned 40!
We thought we would do something special so the club hosted a disco for her and a good time was had by all if the images are anything to go by!
Click the images for a larger view…
