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Summer 2007

ONCE ON THIS ISLAND

 

Your correspondent thoroughly enjoyed the hour long performance of ‘Once On This Island' staged by 14 to 15 year old children from Exeter School on 11 th July. The performance was free but there was a collecting box for Romilly and a total of £214.85 was raised. The play is a Caribbean interpretation ofn the ‘The Little Mermaid' with the heroine coming to a sticky end after straying out of her social sphere. The play is a musical with a calypso beat and the entire performance was sung. Production, direction and performance were achieved by the children entirely at their own initiative. Producer, director, actor, dancer and singer Britney Harris with her energetic, talented, musical cast: Beatrice Bowles-Bray, Sebastian Sutcliffe, Mathew Pauley, Artemis Crowley, Jemimah Pauley, Hugh Collins, Joely Harris, Tom Lines, Andy Lines and Izzy Tilley are to be congratulated and were applauded on the night by an enthusiastic audience. For the colourful costumes and the T- shirts thanks go to Mish Giles and Phil Hancock.
17th April Easter Monday 2006

ROMILLY'S RIDE

All week the meteo had been predicting a rainy Easter Monday. Instead it was one of those perfect spring days. We rode in groups around a course of 25 kms or so in a loop that started in Marminiac and ended on the other side of the village at Mourlane, Romilly's home : the aim to raise money for Romilly's Association. We rode through woodlands where the buds on the hazel and oak were just opening, past farms where figures in blue were hoeing between rows of leaks and broad beans, and where the apple and cherry trees were covered in blossom. The green of the grass, the blue of the sky, the mauves of the orchids and the yellow of the dandelions were intense. The pace was gentle though interspersed by some good gallops. The distance was not too long. In all there were 35 riders, most were local but some of whom had come from as far away as Britain . This is the 5th Romilly's Ride and definitely one of the best.

Over 100 people enjoyed lunch at Mourlane. Rosettes were awarded. In all 2000 euros was taken. It was all great fun.

 

Special thanks go to Shoshi Heilbronn for preparing such a beautiful route, to Gary Heilbronn and Charles Loftie for slaving over a hot barbecue, to Francoise Reix for the cabecous, Elizabeth Chandler and M. and Mme Alexandre for the rosettes. We are very grateful to all those who got up early to man check points, to the sécouristes de Cazals, to all those who helped prepare and gave food and all those who worked hard to make the day such a success. Our sincere thanks go to all of you who made donations.

23rd Sept O5

21 st Birthday Party @ the Park
A huge thanks go to Helen Brownlees and all the parents committee who worked so hard to make this wonderful occasion such a success. Thanks too go to all those who raffled, bid and dona ted to raise so much money for Romilly.

It was a tremendous evening held at the Park Lane Hotel to commemorate the 21 st Birthday of Broomwood Hall School. Coincidentally Romilly would have been 21 only a few weeks later. After an excellent dinner guests were entertained by Ronnie Corbett, the speaker for the evening. Johnny Vaughan auctioned lots ranging from Darcy Bussell's pointe shoes to a cricket bat signed by the England team who won the ashes. It was great fun and to date a magnificent £43500 has been raised. 		 

4th Sept. 05

Family day and Barbecue at the Artists Rifles Club, Wisley
Yet again Bruce Wiley's team did sterling work at the grill and on the spit. There was a good turn out with fun and games enjoyed by young and old and a handsome £500 was raised. Hearty hanks go to Dinger Bell, Adrian Beales, Alister McMillan, Andy Humphries, Roger Edwardes as well as Katie Williams and the staff of the ARC as well as all the others who worked, bought and donated to make the day such a success.

 

28th Oct 04

 

Romilly's Concert at St John's Smith Square
The concert was a great success. It was clear that everyone who came very much enjoyed it. There were great performances from The London Children's Choir, the Pirasti Trio, John Lofthouse and Elizabeth Watts. The surprise of the evening were the percussionists O Duo, who set the hall alight. Our thanks go to Ronald Corp for arranging such a bold and varied evening and of course to all the musicians for giving us such pleasure. All in all the evening raised £5000 for Romilly's Foundation. Thank you very much to all those who worked so hard to make it such a success.

5th Sept. 04

The Aardvarks Family day and Barbecue at the Artists Rifles Club Bisley The Aardvarks/Asqn Family day at the Artists Rifles Club was a great success. How could it be otherwise in such brilliant sunshine?

Our sincere thanks go to all those who made it such a success. Alister McMillan worked like a steaming super- Baccus distributing Pimms to a thirsty crowd. Bill Blake kept order at the ticket desk. Dinger Bell did good business at the second hand bookstall. Izzy and Franny Wyllie raised £75 with their swap shop and brading and nail varnishing stall.

 

At the barbecue, Chef Will Phipps, and a lobster pink assistant Wyllie, virtually cooked themselves doling out hand made burgers for a crowd of 130. The paddling pool, water slide and bouncy castle were a huge success with the children and in constant use. Along the terrace in front of the club house and in its comfortable bar with its great view of the ranges, old friends drank and ate together.

Particularly enjoyable was the Makarov pistol shoot and the compressed air rifle shoot laid on at the Lord Roberts centre by Moss Mustafa. This was really great fun, with some shaky old hands claiming that others were shooting on their targets. There were generous donations of books, articles for the bring-and-buy and to the raffle. Most of the prizes went to Martin Beale, justly so, since he seemed to have bought handfuls of tickets. Altogether 2000GBP was raised, which is an excellent result. Thank you everyone.
The day was a perfect illustration of just what a good place the ARC is to hold events like this. Many thanks to go Moss Mustafa and the helpful, friendly staff at the club and in particular to Katie Williams.
Sept 2004 Anna Ward and Holly Willats walking the length of Hadrians Wall, as a sponsored walk.

The Trustees of Romilly´s Foundation thank Anna Ward and Holly Willat for all the immense hard work that they have put into raising £3350 for the Foundation. They also thank their sponsors for their great generosity.

Anna and Holly write:
  Thank you for your invaluable contribution towards our sponsored Hadrian’s Wall walk in aid of The Romilly Forshall Foundation’s latest project, the Kawaza Primary School in Zambia. Without it our legs could not have persevered for 84 miles. When we wavered with burning blisters or throbbing ankles, we remembered your promise, and how much it would mean to the children in Zambia. Standing at the foot of hill after hill, it was this that enabled us to conquer them. Having completed every inch of the wall we can tell you that the sum amounts to over £3,000, which dwarfs our original £1,000 target. We really enjoyed the walk. It didn’t rain and most suprising of all was the realisation that we had walked from one side of England to the other (from Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway). In order to give you a more vivid portrayal of our experience here are some exerts from our diary:

Day One 6.15 am ‘Sitting on train nervous and excited to depart – what an awful hour. Certainly our first ‘mountain to climb’ = getting up at 5 am!’

5.00 pm ‘Still can’t believe we are here 2 hours early. Commander Willats has been storming ahead the whole way…am relieved Holly brought her camera along because photo opportunities have been the only viable rest stops!’

Day Two 2.30 pm ‘Have taken into consideration Private Ward’s complaints of yesterday’s pace and are taking it slower today.’

Day Three 6.00 pm ‘Have walked a colossal 20 miles today to reach Once Brewed YHA and feeling the effects (shooting pains up both legs!)’

The End Private Ward: ‘I am reclining on a double bed in disbelief that I have walked from one side of England to the other..’ Commander Willats: ‘Now Hadrian’s Wall is completed what will we do now? I was thinking of the Cornish Coastal path or the Chiltern way and then there’s the Pennine Way…’

With our thanks,

Anna Ward and Holly Willats