May Day Fun Day - Thank you

May Day Fun Day - Thank you!

What a fantastic day we had on Sunday 3rd May at the May Day Fun Day, although the sun didn’t shine on us all day, the rain held off and it was warm enough to relax and enjoy.

The queue for the face painting was never ending, the artists perfecting every child’s wish with a smile – amazement by the customers that there was no charge! Square dancing with a caller was perhaps held a little early in the day – some lubrication may have encouraged more people to join in! Thank you to Bob from Heyford Hoofers for coming along, we will definitely have him back for an evening in the Village Hall in the coming months. Seeing the children dance around the Maypole brings back nostalgic memories from yesteryear for people of all ages. Traditional activities like the sack race, egg & spoon race and the tug of war got everyone involved. All children taking part were given a bag of sweets (with their parents’ permission of course!) Graham Wilson brought down his vintage organ for all to enjoy.

A lesson learned in the advertising is that perhaps it wasn’t made clear enough that we wanted children to dress up as May King & Queens so we could crown the best dressed. Luckily Tessa & Craig O’Brien got the message and their gorgeous children Ivy & Axel were crowned with incredibly beautiful flower crowns made on the day by ‘Flowers Designed by Steve’.

Perrin Hatwell, Hatwell Amusements, brought along some of his rides, the bungee trampolines were especially successful, but many children also enjoyed the bouncy castle slide & the teacups for the little ones. Villagers Dave & Emma Jones of the Oxford Bar Company provided refreshments with their horse box bar and there were yummy pizza’s and ice creams. Sadly we were let down on the morning of the event by another food vendor but clever villager Marie Thornton came up with a solution – her daughter went shopping for hotdog sausages and buns and – hey presto – another food option. Chris Gates landlord of the Barley Mow fired up the chip pan and they were ferried across the road to keep us topped up – at no cost to us! Thank you Chris for supporting the village! Delicious cakes were donated by James Champion – we received many compliments.

George Stephenson from Manor Farm brought down some farm machinery to display, along with a few historic tractors from the Bicester Tractor Club and not forgetting the display of vintage Mini’s for all to enjoy. A mix of stalls provided variety to the visitors and Veronica Lough-Scott deserves a special mention as her plant stall raised £180 for St Mary’s Church.

The Parish Council would like to thank everyone involved for making this a success, it was a real team effort with volunteers from the village - too many to name individually! Thank you for all donations to the raffle, and, of course, a big thank you for attending. The money raised from this event – and for all future Parish Council events – will go into the Village Playground Fund to maintain and improve the 2 children’s playgrounds in Upper Heyford. With the expansion of Heyford Park these are being used more and more, therefore the cost of keeping them safe for all to use has increased.

Our community raised over £800 at this event!! A big pat on the back to you all!

With this being the first May Day event held in the village for over a decade we are overwhelmed by the support it had and by how many people attended. The plans for making next year’s event even bigger and better are already in place – mark your calendar it will be held on 2 May 2027!

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  Sarah Burrows

  Clerk & RFO

  Upper Heyford Parish Council

  parishclerk@upperheyfordpc.org.uk

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Upper Heyford Village Hall

Somerton Road, Upper Heyford

OX25 5LB

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