> Mayhem at the May Day Fayre

A gazebo, some volunteers and a mountain of cakes doesn’t sound like a recipe for adventure does it? But then those of us who got involved with the NCT Towcester & District branch’s very first stand at the May Day Fayre on Monday 3 May weren’t really expecting severe wintry weather!

The morning started well – the gazebo was up, the cake stall was arranged and the African drumming and face painting areas were ready to go. Plate after plate of cakes arrived in time for the cake stall, and the people started arriving. And then so did the weather! First it was dry, a bit blowy but nevertheless not too bad. Thank goodness for the thermals - who said fundraising was glamorous? 

Then it started to rain, first a little, then a lot, and we tried to save the cakes from gaining that not so appealing ‘wet icing’ look. The blankets came out, the drums went in, the lids on the cake tins went on and yet still people were buying! Then the hail pelted down. Hail in May! Everyone notched up a gear and raced against the weather to protect the stand, never mind the children sheltering under the gazebo. So far, so good… until a sudden gust of wind took the gazebo from right over our heads and blew it into the hedge.

Exposed is not the word. With help from neighbouring stands we retrieved the gazebo but it was not a pretty sight. But the show had to go on and we improvised with an umbrella. Luckily, the weather improved after that and all was not lost - by the end of the day we raised £118! Huge thanks to all NCT members who braved the weather and came along to show us their support, as well as all the local Towcester residents.

And next year? It was a great opportunity to raise some funds for the branch and get the chance to publicise the NCT, but maybe we’ll wait and see what the weather forecast has in store first…!

Author: Kathryn Hunter, Parent support co-ordinator, events and publicity officer