The idea of having a circus visit our sleepy village of Leckhampstead seemed almost surreal when it was first considered as a fundraiser to support our church restoration project, but what a day it was! The weather was warm and welcoming, giving us the opportunity to host 500 locals comprising families and friends from Leckhampstead and the surrounding villages. It has been a long time since we saw so many people gathered together in Leckhampstead and it made for a wonderful atmosphere!
The gates opened at midday, offering the opportunity to get refreshments from the BBQ, tea and cake (kindly hosted by the village hall) and stronger refreshments from the bar. The children took turns on the inflatable slide (which proved very popular with children and parents alike), played with ribbons and on swings in the various play areas. There was a sweet stall and, of course, the raffle.
At 1:30pm the circus tent was opened with warm up acts creating great anticipation for the show, which didn’t disappoint. How marvellous to see Mr Happy and his circus of acrobats, aerialists, magic, speciality acts and clowns. The tent was full to maximum capacity and the laughter and smiles were evident all around. During the interval there was a mad dash for further refreshments and another go on the inflatable slide!
The raffle was drawn and prizes given but the real prize was the wonderful atmosphere and weather enjoyed by so many after 2 difficult years enduring so much isolation.
We would like to thank everyone who helped make the day such an amazing success with special thanks to the circus committee and to everyone who helped on the day. We are delighted to announce that we raised £7,000 (with match funding from the Greenham Trust) which will go towards our funds to put heating back into the church (sadly deemed unsafe when we put the new roof on) as well as adding toilet facilities.
Thank you to everyone for taking the time to attend this event and support our village.
St James Church Leckhampstead 