Rokpa Glasgow News Page 12

NEWS ... NEWS ... FUNDRAISING NEWS ... NEWS ... NEWS

Craig, James and I arrived at Rokpa House on Friday afternoon 4 August to load up our transport with just about everything but the kitchen sink to head to Traquair Fayre near Peebles. We had to admit defeat and leave some things for Kevin to pick up later .. and our other volunteer, Barbara, was making her own way there.

When we got there we were shown to our “pitch” and started to set out all the things we would need for the next couple of days. The fridge and freezer amongst other things were taken out of Craig’s car, together with tables, pots, pans, groceries, cooker rings and a marquee extricated from my van. How did we manage all these things? Isa and Humphrey were already there setting up their own stall in another marquee, and kindly offered us some food and drinks. This went down well with our crew.

We set up our marquee without much fuss (most impressed!) and quickly filled it up. Then it was time to relax with a glass of wine and a couple of beers before setting up camp.

The following morning we all met up in the marquee ready for the day ahead. Craig had been at the Fayre last year raising money for the soup kitchen, and both him and James would be the chefs .. so Barbara, Kevin and I would follow their instructions and hopefully things would run smoothly.

We set about washing, chopping, mixing, setting out menu boards and prices and cooking ready for our customers. The weather was good and we were looking forward to enjoying the day. We quickly realised that because we were offering freshly prepared food we were working pretty much flat out. The good weather brought with it many wasps which we dodged constantly. On coming back from the portaloo I noticed what looked like Kevin guiding a plane in for landing only to realise as I got nearer that he was desperately trying to “shoo” some wasps away. To drum up more business Barbara and I were sent on “brownie patrol,” quickly persuading people to buy our donated home baked brownies .. our reward was that we got to eat the ones that started to melt!

The Sunday morning saw us bright and breezy (!?!) for the day ahead. We realised that our stall wasn’t as noticeable as it could be so Craig gave me a “wee” signwriting job to do on the end of the marquee.

After an endless stream of hummous and chilli wraps, yummy soup, chai, Turkish coffee and iced fruit tea it was all over and we had raised the magnificent amount of £510 !

We left a whole lot lighter than when we first arrived and everyone agreed that it was a great weekend. We are looking forward to next year albeit Barbara managed to get stung twice by wasps and me once. Why did none of the men get stung!!!?

Mae Wilson

YOU COULD HELP WITH FUNDRAISING FOR ROKPA GLASGOW SOUP KITCHEN! Click here for details!!

***** £510 raised *****