Author Archives: PIP Admin

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Creech Bake Off 2019

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The Creech Bake-Off is happening again in 2019 for the 4th time.  The baking competition is kindly being organised this year by the Creech St Michael Flower and Produce Show.

Theme

This year the theme is a WELL KNOWN BOOK OR FILM – so lots and lots of options!

Maybe a Thomas The Tank Engine sponge cake, or a Chocolate Chewbacca, or a Strawberry Spiderman – the only limit is your imagination!

Categories

There are three categories to take part in:

  1. Adults
  2. Young People (ages 11-17)
  3. Children (aged 10 and under)

Judging

The cakes will be judged on both look and flavour by member of the Flower Show committee.  Spectators are also able to judge their favourites by putting a sticker next to the cakes.

How to enter

Please bring your cakes to the Bake-Off Tent on the day between 12:00-13:00, judging will take place at 14:30 and prizes given out shortly afterwards.

Gallery

Take a look at some entries from previous years.  More images available in our FaceBook Bake-Off Album.

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Notes from Planning Meeting – 6th June 2019

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With less than a month to go til this year’s Party in the Park, the committee had lots to discuss at their recent meeting.

Present:  Adrian, Steve, Simon, Jo, Colin, Charlie, Dee, Nigel, Clare

Site preparation: we are arranging for the grass to be cut prior to the event and improved fencing to make the site more secure. Charlie is building us steps to access the stage.

Site layout:  much discussion took place on where to put the toilets! We have more loos this year for both men and women and as such may have to re-think where they are located.  We also have bigger inflatables which need careful consideration due to the logistics of power cables.  The team decided to meet up at the field later in the month to discuss further. We discussed lighting and confirmed it will be improved for the end of the evening to help people navigate the field when they leave.

Site security:  sadly, we had some trouble last year with teens.  Our professional security team will be patrolling the gate and site to ensure no under-age drinking takes place.  Under age drinkers will be escorted off site along with their appropriate adult. Alcohol not purchased on site will be confiscated. The team are volunteers organising an event for the whole community and should not have to put up with abuse from anyone of any age.  We will have a zero-tolerance policy on drunken or abusive behaviour towards both our volunteers and security team and offenders will be removed from site.

Posters:  posters have been printed and distributed throughout the team to put up around the village and local areas. (see below if you can help with posters)

Rubbish and recycling: we are improving the ability to sort out rubbish on the day. Our clean up volunteers had quite the job last year on the Sunday attempting to separate the landfill waste form the recycling.  It was a hard messy job that required strong marigolds! We’re hoping to improve the sorting this year with better signage on the bins and lids on some which will only be for certain recycling eg cans/bottles.

Weather:  we spent far too much time discussing the weather!  The event WILL take place whatever the weather, but obviously contingency plans need to be in place if the worst happens.  We will be monitoring the weather forecast closely and if heavy rain looks likely then we will put plans in place to protect the stage and other electrics fully.

Raffle:  we have some absolutely amazing prizes for the raffle this year which we will be advertising soon.  We will be selling tickets throughout the day and nighttime event and the raffle will be drawn the following day.  All proceeds from the raffle will be split between the stroke ward at Musgrove Hospital and another charity of Mandy Knight’s choosing to honour her late husband David Knight, who was a key member of the PIP team.

Tickets:  Teen tickets are very nearly sold out, and child tickets are running low.  Plenty of adult tickets are still available.  Tickets can be purchased at Creech School Fair of Friday 14th June 3.45-5.30pm or see the tickets page.

How can YOU help?

We always need volunteers for jobs big and small in the run up to the event, on the day, and following the event.  If you can help – for as much or as little as you are able – we would love to hear from you.  Email us, message us on Facebook or speak to one of the team about how you can get involved.  We currently need help with:

  1. Poster distribution – are you able to put up a poster at your work or a notice board near you?  Posters available to download and print or you can contact us to request a paper copy.
  2. Friday  – we need strong bodies on the day before the event for lots of manual jobs at the field.  Please let us know if you can help.
  3. Saturday clean-up – bins need to be emptied, toilets need to checked/cleaned, field needs to be setup for evening, rubbish cleared from field.
  4. Sunday clean-up – many hands make light work!  If you can help clear the site the next morning please just turn up and dig in.
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Daytime Activity Tokens

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Party in the Park is now only 6 weeks away and behind the scenes the team are working to get the site ready to put on another fantastic event.

We’re doing things a little differently this year and using tokens for rides and activities instead of cash.  You’ll be able to buy your tokens on the day for £1 each from the soft drinks bar at the pavilion.  All rides/activities will cost ONE TOKEN.  However you can also save yourself some money by buying the token vouchers ahead of time and get the following discount:

  • 5 x tokens = £4 (20% discount)
  • 15 x tokens = £10 (33% discount)

Vouchers are available to purchase from:

  • All ticket sellers (see the ticket page for full details)
  • Creech School Fair on 14 June 2019 15.45-17.45.

Activities you will need tokens for

Tap the App Game

Hold your nerve and take on the giant smart phone steady hand game. The aim of the game is to remove all the pieces (apps) from the game board using the electromagnetic wand. Tap the App one at a time and keep a steady hand, if you touch the sides the alarm will sound and the app will fall back into the game board.

Strike a Light Game

Speed, accuracy, and head-to-head competition make this high energy game a true winner. Who has the fastest hands in Creech?

Racing Simulator (2 player)

The racing simulators features a link up system allowing drivers to race on the simulator head to head with independent screen views. The system features a choice of cars and courses is available including both track and off road courses in a variety of car types.

Dance Off Machine

Follow the steps on screen to learn the routines and score big points. Challenge friends and family to see who has the best moves.

Obstacle Course

70ft bouncy assault course.

Rodeo Sheep Ride

Like a bucking broncho – except it’s a sheep!

Air Hockey Table

Classic arcade game for two players.

Inflatable Slide

Giant inflatable slide – fun for all ages.

Free Activities and games

  • Family games – giant jenga, giant connect 4, limbo set,
  • Circus Skills with Mr Bumble
  • Balloon modelling with Mr Bumble
  • Egg Toss
  • Tug of War
  • Reptile handling

See our daytime page for full details of displays, demos and stalls that will also be around during the day.

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Creech Community Clean Up Day – Saturday 11th May 2019

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To celebrate Somerset Day on 11th May, we hosted our 2nd community spring clean of the village and were absolutely blown away by the fantastic turn out of people.

Over 100 adults and children of all ages came together to litter pick around the village and deal with overgrown bushes and weeds. One of our volunteers even bravely tethered himself to a rope enabling him to get up close to the canal and retrieve the large quantities of rubbish on its bank (thank you Charlie!) . The two hours of sprucing up the village yielded random finds such as tyres, huge picture frames and even a house phone!

Joining in the volunteering were several Creech Parish Councillors, Somerset County Councillor David Fothergill and local Rev Rebecca Harris.

Following the clean up, the volunteers were treated to a free BBQ cooked by Adrian and Steve and chips from Layz Ricks.   Family games including giant connect 4, rounders and limbo were available for all to use and the kids had a fab time playing in the park in the sunshine.

The organising committee said:

“We are really pleased that Creech Party in the Park continues to be a successful event which allows us to put proceeds back into the village. We were delighted that so many children helped with the clean up day as it’s fantastic to see the different generations coming together”

In addition to organising the clean-up, Creech Party in the Park has also donated funds to the local primary school, pre-school and Baptist church for children’s clubs. It has provided park benches, phone box refurbishment, defib and funded OAP lunches. It has also funded 20 trees to be planted as part of the Somerset Wood Memorial Project.

Huge thanks to Dee for organising this great community event.

Creech Community Clean-Up Day – Love Where You Live!

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To celebrate Somerset Day on 11th May we are going to have another village clean up day followed by food and games at the park.

Last year a few volunteers (and their minions!) did a fab job of cleaning up the village prior to Creech Party in the Park.  This year we are holding our clean-up on Somerset Day to celebrate the beautiful area in which we live

What will we be doing?

We’ll be meeting at Creech Recreation Ground for a morning of litter-picking, weeding and general sprucing-up of the village, in readiness for the summer.  We will provide maps of the local area so you know exactly which areas to cover and avoid repetition.  We’ll try to cover as much of the village as possible and you can of course choose which jobs you’d like be get involved with.

Children are welcome – in fact positively encouraged! Please ensure they are supervised by a responsible adult throughout the event.

What do you need to bring?

We have a small supply of litter-pickers and plenty of black bags and disposable gloves. Please bring along your own litter pickers if you have them and gardening gloves if you want to get involved with weeding.

If you are walking to the park and would like to pick up litter on your way, let us know and we can drop off bags/gloves to you before the event so you are prepared.

BBQ and games

After all the hard work there will be a free BBQ and chips for all of our volunteers, followed by a few family games at the park and a general chilled get together with fellow villagers.

If you are planning to come along to our clean up day, can you please leave us a message on 01823 445057 with your name, how many people are coming, and if anyone is a vegetarian. This is so we can plan the BBQ and feed our hungry volunteers! Alternatively mark yourself as attending on our Facebook event page.

Timings

09:30-10:00 – Gather at park to be briefed on locations/jobs and given supplies

10:00 – Begin clean up

12:00-12:30 – Meet back at recreation park

12:30 – BBQ & Games

In Memoriam – David Knight

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David Knight
David Knight

The team were deeply saddened to lose one of our team earlier this month.

David Knight passed away on 16th February following a short illness.

Dave had been part of the PIP organising committee since 2014 and his passing will leave a huge hole in our team and he will be deeply missed by everyone.

Dave was a key member of the team, who helped with all aspects of the event.  He was at all the planning meetings throughout the year without fail and was responsible for the bands, stage, plant hire, bar stock collection, site plan and layout of the field.  He was always on hand with his van for any deliveries in the run up to the event and his business contacts were invaluable for not just services but also sponsorship. 

On the day of the event Dave would be on site from early in the morning till late at night getting stuck in with all the jobs, big or small. Whether it was litter picking, serving at the bar or moving hay bales Dave was happy to get involved in it all.  We were particularly impressed with his Zumba demo skills one year!

The PIP team had this to say about Dave:

 “It was an absolute pleasure to work with David and he will genuinely be missed by us all.  I will always picture him wearing a yellow T-shirt, a big smile and holding a glass of red! He was a lovely friendly man and it was a privilege to call him a friend” – Jo

 “I will really miss a very dear friend in Dave. Dave’s dedication and enthusiasm to PIP was second to none and the PIP team are going to make sure that 2019 is one to remember in his honour. The Creech Parish has lost a key member of the community, it is a very sad time.” – Adrian

“David was a pleasure to work alongside on the PIP committee in the few years I knew him.   His incredibly positive, ‘can do’ attitude, great sense of humour and above all his willingness to get involved in any way necessary to get the million ‘things’ done behind the scenes to create a hugely successful and memorable community occasion, made him an invaluable team member.  What a loss to our team and our community. He will be missed greatly by us all” – Bev

“David always had a smile on his face and a calm head, even when things were not going completely to plan…  He did so much for our community and in particular Ham.  I feel very proud to have called him a friend and colleague and his rum punch was legendary x” – Clare

“David will be genuinely missed. He was a pleasure to work with at PIP and was always cheerful, no matter what was going on!” – Dee

“Working with David was always a pleasure; his reassuring smile was a comfort especially if things were not going as hoped.  I feel privileged to have known and worked alongside him at PIP, as a Parish councillor and during other community events.  I’m so glad our paths crossed, and I’ve had the pleasure of calling David my friend.  He will always be in our hearts.” – Mina

In addition to being a key member of PIP Dave also organised trips for the Ham Clan, ran his own successful business, and was a member of Creech St Michael Parish Council for several years. 

Our thoughts are with David’s wife Mandy and his family at this heart-breaking time.

Free Fish & Chip Lunch

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On Friday 18th January 2019 Creech Party in the Park (PIP) provided a free fish and chip lunch for a group of over 60s.

pip-lunch

Around 120 locals were treated to a lunch of fish, sausage or veggie burger courtesy of PIP.

The event was held in the village hall, and Layz Ricks provided the delicious main course. Pudding was a selection of shop bought delights in addition to a lovely home made gluten free cheesecake (thank you Tina!).

layz-ricks

Creech St Michael Primary School sent along six school ambassadors to help serve up the food, accompanied by Mrs Perham and the Headteacher Mrs McCarthy. The children did a fantastic job of shuttling the food between the mobile van and the hall and serving up mushy peas, but their favourite job was wheeling round the dessert trolly full of tasty treats! They were treated to lunch and cake afterwards for all their hard work.

Following lunch and pudding there was time for a quick cuppa and a biscuit before the bingo started. Several games were played, with boxes of chocolates given out as prizes. We were once again joined by Somerset County Council leader Cllr David Fothergill who performed outstandingly as the bingo caller, assisted by PIP organiser Clare.

A BBC film crew were also in attendance at the event, filming Cllr Fothergill for an upcoming episode of Panorama about Social Care. They interviewed some of the locals too so you may see some familiar faces on TV soon!

Although not quite up to the BBC standards, we also had our own roving reporters on hand in the form Andrew and Jo who did a fab job of capturing the day in pictures and video.

Behind the scenes Gill, Karen, Tina and Renee were hard at work in the kitchen washing up. Although we didn’t see them much – we very much appreciate them keeping the mountain of plates under control!

The whole event was funded by the proceeds of PIP. As a non-profit event we aim to support good causes in the local area every year. Please let us know if you have any suggestions for groups that could benefit from PIP funds.

This lunch, and indeed Creech Party in the Park would not be possible without the invaluable help of volunteers, who give up so much of their time. A huge thank you goes to: Adrian, Andrew, Charlie, Clare, Colin, Corinne, David Fothergill, Gemma, Gill, Jo, Karen, Mina, Nigel, Renee, schoolchildren, Simon, Steve and Tina.

January Planning Meeting

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The organising committee met on 15th January with Adrian, Charlie, Colin, Steve, Dee, Nigel and Jo in attendance. Lots of items were discussed, including:

Site Safety. The fencing and lighting is all in hand, and will be improved this year to ensure continued safety. We have once again booked a professional security firm for the After Dark event, and First Aid cover has been arranged for both day and night.

Equipment purchases. We agreed to buy a selection of gazebos, tables and chairs to use for this and future events.

Food Vendors. We will once again have a wide variety of hot food both day and night. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for full details being announced in due course. We can confirm the following types of stall will be in attendance: Fish & Chips, Ice Cream, Pancakes, Burgers, Sausages, Sweets, Mexican, Pizza and Noodles.

Stalls. Applications from a range of stallholders are coming in thick and fast and we will have a selection of community, commercial and charity stalls. If you would like an application form for your group please email: info@creechpartyinthepark.com

After Dark Tickets. Adult and teen tickets will go up slightly this year, but child tickets will remain the same price. Tickets will go on sale in the Spring and will be advertised around the village first, and then on Facebook and the website. Prices as follows and no child/teen tickets will be issued without appropriate number of accompanying adult tickets.

  • Adult (18+) – £6
  • Teen (13-17) – £4
  • Child (5-12) – £1
  • Under 5’s – FREE

Bar and Gin Bar. Licence is secured for the event thanks to committee members Steve and Claire holding personal licences for the event. Exciting news is that we plan to have a special Gin Bar at the event this year. Look out for posts on Facebook soon asking for your favourite gin recommendations.

Recycling & Rubbish. Viridor is booked to take away our waste on the Sunday. We will once again use fully compostable cups at the bar. We are looking at how we can improve recycling on site as despite signage recycling/rubbish always seem to end up in the same bins – meaning a lot of manual sorting out by volunteers the next day – not a pleasant job! If anyone has any ideas please let us know.

Bands. Thank you for the suggestions on Facebook for bands. We have our headline band booked and are currently checking availability of others and will announce full lineup ASAP.

Fish and Chip lunch. Some of the proceeds from PIP will be used on Friday 18 January to give local over 60s a free lunch at the village hall. This is the 3rd year PIP has funded this. Full write up of this years event will be published after Friday.

Somerset Day. After the success of the clean up day last year we are hoping to do a similar event to coincide with Somerset Day on 11th May. Save the date and we will announce more details in due course.

Somerset Wood Project. We discussed donating funds for this project which plants trees in honor of fallen soldiers from the Parish. Agreed we will help. Full details will be posted in a later article.

Volunteers. As usual we need volunteers for before, during and after the event. We are currently putting together a list of specific jobs that need doing and will publish this ASAP.

If you would like to get involved in this event please let us know on info@creechpartyinthepark.com

Sponsorship needed!

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Sponsorship is urgently needed by local businesses.  Can you help support our event with cash, raffle prizes or services?

Creech Party in the Park won a national award last year from Fields in Trust for the “Best Have a Field Day” event, which raised our profile so we are expecting another very successful event in 2016.

Our not-for-profit event costs over £4500 to put on, and is only possible with the generous involvement of the local community. There are several ways to get involved with our event and we would of course offer you great publicity in return.

 

Cash sponsorship

We always need more cash! You could donate any amount, or directly sponsor an amenity/activity, by paying for its total cost.  Examples below cost between £100-£1350:

  • Evening band
  • Toilet block
  • Marquee
  • Petting farm
  • Daytime band
  • Segways
  • Playbus
  • PA System
  • Gladiator jousting
  • Kid’s disco
  • Punch & Judy
  • Magician

Many of the above include VAT which may be able to be claimed back by companies.

In return we could offer your company publicity via all our channels:  banners (you supply) on fence and around sponsored activity, stall at event, leaflets on tables, thankyou posters at event, your company logo on poster, Facebook, Twitter, Website, Blog and complimentary tickets to AfterDark event.

Raffle prizes

We would welcome all donations for our raffle.  In return we could offer you publicity on our website and social media channels.

Free services

If your business can assist us in any other way – such as offering free or reduced services, then we would love to talk to you and give you suitable publicity in return.

Please contact us if you can help support our award winning event.

Volunteers needed

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The planning for this year’s Party in the Park is coming along nicely, but we still need to find some willing volunteers to help us out with jobs both before, during and after the event.

PIP Volunteers 2015

PIP Volunteers 2015

PIP Volunteers 2015

PIP Volunteers 2015

PIP Volunteers 2015

PIP Volunteers 2014

PIP Volunteers 2013

PIP Volunteers 2013

Creech Party in the Park 2014

Creech Party in the Park 2014

Creech Family Fun Day 2013

Volunteers working hard

Volunteers working hard

Volunteers working hard

Volunteers working hard

Creech Party in the Park 2014

Creech Party in the Park 2014

Creech St Michael Family Fun Day 2013

Without much needed volunteers we will struggle to run a successful event – so can you help give up an hour or so of your time to help out with any of the following jobs?

Before the event

  • Selling tickets to Afterdark event
  • Sourcing cash sponsorship
  • Sourcing raffle prizes
  • Put goodie bags together for kids disco
  • Display posters/banners
  • Collect tables and chairs from church
  • Collect Defib from Bell Inn
  • Collect raffle prizes and deliver to rec ground
  • Help set up stage in marquee
  • Help put up gazebos

The day/evening of the event – 11th July

  • Selling raffle tickets during the day and evening
  • Collect straw bales from Kingston St Mary
  • Print and put up advisory posters on roads around park
  • Put up bunting and posters/signs
  • Organise and run a Stocks stall
  • Organise and run Egg Toss game in the central arena
  • Organise and run Tug of War tournament in the central arena
  • Greet stallholders at gate/marshall parking/siting stalls
  • Organise and run Wheel Barrow Race in the central arena
  • Clean toilets in break before evening event
  • Empty bins around field in break before evening event
  • Take straw bales off lorry and arrange in arena shape
  • Put straw bales back on lorry at end of the evening
  • Organise kids dances and games during kids disco (7-8pm)
  • Put out table and chairs in marquee
  • Draw raffle, keep list of winners, give out prizes

Day after the event

  • Return table and chairs
  • Tidy rubbish from field
  • Take down gazebos
  • Restocking lorry with intact straw bales
  • Return defib to Bell

If anyone has any expertise with PA systems and can recommend a supplier then we’d love to hear from you.  Are you a electrician who could be on hand to help and advise?  Are you a trained first aider who could be on standby in case you are needed?

If you are part of a local group who would like to put on a display in the arena during the day then we would love you to be part of the day.  We also have a few commercial stall spaces left, so let us know if you want to come along.

We would really appreciate any help so please contact us at volunteer@creechpartyinthepark.com to get involved.