Tag Archives: artisan

Centre News, Events, Fundraising

Our Spring Craft Fayre 2016

CCMayCraftFayre-20The sun shone on our Woodlands building this weekend as we held our Spring Craft Fayre. It was lovely enjoying the weather and our centre was bustling with so many activities going on – we had Morris dancers, face painting, kids crafts and of course some beautiful handmade gifts on offer.

To kick start the day we were treated to a dance by Somerset Morris, who not only performed for us but also treated us to a quick workshop on how to do a Morris dance. It was great to see so many people getting involved in this, including Sonia and Janine, our CEO and Senior Development Manager!

Continue reading Our Spring Craft Fayre 2016 →

Centre News, Events, Fundraising

Join us for our Spring Craft Fayre!!

Some of the handmade delights that Deb will be selling at our Spring Craft Fayre
Some of the handmade delights that Deb will be selling at our Spring Craft Fayre

Spring is officially here and preparations are well underway for our third Craft Fayre here at the Carers Centre, on Saturday 7th May. Our Craft Fayres are a fantastic way to fundraise for the centre, as well as raise awareness of carers in the local community.

Our Craft Fayres also give carers the chance to make and sell their own products. Deb Frogley is one of the carers looking forward to selling her crafts at our 2016 Craft Fayre. She says; “I’ve been paper-crafting and scrapbooking for 6 or 7 years, after a friend got me into it. With crafting, I’ve been able to let loose, let myself make mistakes and know that not everything has to be ‘perfect’…in fact, bodges have often led to even better ideas!”

As a carer, it’s important for Deb to have a hobby that can help her cope with her caring role. “Being creative is part of my DNA (I’m a writer) and it keeps me balanced and sane!”, she says. “Craft and creativity are a huge release for me – but it’s only this year that I’ve taken the plunge and entered fairs, and BANES Carer’s will be my second!”.

Our previous craft fayres have been huge successes and we can’t wait to see what carers like Deb have to show us on the 7th May. Deb says; “I’m very much looking forward to it, and hope people will respond well to my handmade items”. We know they will Deb, and we can’t wait to see what’s in store!

If you’d like to buy some unique and handmade crafts, please join us on Saturday 7th May at our Bath Centre, from 10am-2pm. There’ll be a wide range of stalls, live entertainment, children’s activities, and homemade refreshments – it’s set to be a great day and we’d love you to join us!

Centre News, Events, Fundraising

Spring is in the Air

photo 1With the days are getting longer and coats getting left at home more often, it’s safe to say that spring is definitely in the air. This is great news for the Carers’ Centre – with our summer programme in the pipeline, we can start planning more and more breaks to take place in our beautiful garden, or outside in the rolling countryside of BANES.

Last spring saw our carers explore Bath, Bristol and beyond, as we held trips to Bristol Zoo, Ston Easton Park, Ammerdown and the Royal Crescent. We also held educational breaks, like our photography course at Bath City Farm and ‘Gardens Are Good For You’, which taught carers essential gardening techniques to help their gardens look fresh and bright for the summer. These breaks were well received and Jane (our senior wellbeing officer) is planning more fun activities as we speak.

Tomorrow our wonderful garden volunteers will meet, and hopefully enjoy their work more now that the rain is stopping – at least it was stopping when we wrote this blog post! On April 16th our carers will go foraging for plants to make delicious and nutritious soups and salads, and on Saturday, 7th May some adventurous carers will join Jane Harvey on a ramble through Chew Valley, in a beautiful walk that combines gorgeous scenery with some light exercise and is great for carers of all ages.

Aside from all of this, there’s no better way to celebrate the darling buds of May than joining us for our Spring Craft Fayre, also taking place on Saturday, 7th May. The Fayre is from 10am-2pm and will be held at our Woodlands centre on the Lower Bristol Road. After two successful Craft Fayres in 2015, we’re hoping Spring 2016 will be even bigger and better. There’ll be live entertainment, children’s activities and some homemade refreshments, so please join us to have fun and raise some money for the Carers’ Centre!

Read more about our Spring fayre on our website: https://www.banescarerscentre.org.uk/help-us-fundraise/may-craft-fayre/

Centre News, Events

Autumn Craft Fayre 2015

Some of the adorable items featured at this weekend's Craft Fayre
Some of the adorable items featured at this weekend’s Craft Fayre

Our Woodlands centre in Bath was the place to be this weekend as we held our Autumn Craft Fayre. Despite the horrendous weather we had a good turnout, with many visitors enjoying our Carers Centre garden, eating lovely homemade cakes and buying artisan arts and crafts. The gifts on offer ranged from homemade chutneys and jams to hand-crafted cards, knitted jumpers to painted glass, and there were even some pet reindeers made out of wood!

We also had our own stall, selling beautiful arts and crafts our carers have completed on breaks and activities with us. These included our Christmas cards, which featured designs created by our Carers For Each Other group. We even held a raffle, giving out some fabulous prizes which put a smile on everyone’s face. Gifts included a festive cookbook, a meal for two at The Porter, and a voucher for Hotel Chocolat – Thanks to all businesses that provided these wonderful prizes.

The Craft Fayre helped to raise over £500, a fantastic result we are all thrilled with!! This means we can continue to support carers and give them the breaks they deserve. The Fayre was particularly special as it was held in our now purchased Woodlands building! We are so proud to have achieved this as it means we can secure a permanent place for carers. All in all it was a great success; thank you to all the staff, businesses and volunteers for taking part.