At a time when we are about to embark on some serious fund-raising, the need to tell people where we are on the financial front is clearly important.
In summary, we have invoices for all costs to date, which amount to approximately £7,000 – some of the bills are not yet in, so we cannot be precise. By way of donations and pledges, the sum raised to date is £7,405, so we can fund our existing expenditure, with approximately £400 to spare.
This said, we plan to call in pledges only as a last resort; we think it wrong a handful of people should fund a campaign likely to benefit a far greater number. Because of this, we are embarking on various fund-raising initiatives with the potential to generate a significant additional sum.
A big consideration is the likely cost of representation at the Inspector’s Hearing and we know we can’t commit to a barrister unless we’re 100% sure we will be able to foot the bill. However, we do feel barrister representation is important. Whilst we believe our 2nd Consultation response is compelling, we are under no illusions Zach Simons will present our case far better than any one of us.
Mindful of the above, we’re about to invest a huge effort into raising £15K-£20K by mid-May. This will be by way of three important initiatives
An Auction of Promises & Social Evening is to be held at the Trimley Sports and Social Club in mid-April – we have been offered some really good promises already and an up-to-date list of these is available on the web site.
However, they include a range of promises such as a private concert for you and your friends in your home, a week’s use of a Felixstowe beach hut, a day out in a speed boat (+ water-sport activities), a genealogical investigation and several others.
However, we’re asking you guys to add to these generous promises... It is our belief there is something every single person can ‘promise’ for the cause. It may be a relatively small item, like a few hours ironing or maybe visiting someone elderly or maybe pet-sitting. Please think hard about what you might be able to offer, at relatively low cost to yourself.
The Auction of Promises will be run alongside a Social Evening where we are hoping to arrange live music from Connor Adams, Il Tenore and Forest. As soon as we have confirmed a date with the artists, we will publicise it at once.
The bar will be open to provide drinks and snacks
A selection of some of the items to be auctioned by way of the Auction of Unwanted Items (see below) will be exhibited in an allocated area
Take away home-made items (crafts, cakes etc.) that will be available for sale
There will be an Easter Egg raffle
KATCAG representatives will be making themselves available to answer questions
Other attractions - to be publicised on our web site as they become available
Entry tickets will be £5/head, with under 12s free-of-charge, obtainable from contact@kirtontrimleycag.com.
The event is being limited to 250 attendees; should there be any unsold tickets, these will be available at the door.
Auction of Unwanted Items
This is now live on the web site click here to take a look, this involves a bidding process, similar to that operated by eBay, where people can ‘buy now’ or ‘bid’ for an item, up until the close point.
We have been offered a range of items already including a lovely Mercedes (with no reserve on it!), some original unpublished David Bowie photographs, and a feature set of early 20th Century weighing scales, in full working order.
With your help, we expect to be able to offer hundreds of similar items over the coming weeks. Each item and a contact point where people can obtain full details will be published on the web site, along with the current bid! If you have items ‘in the shed’ or ’in the loft’ that you feel you can put forward, please ask for an Item Submission Form from contact@kirtontrimleycag.com or you can add an item directly with this link
Your Individual Support – Many of our supporters have put their hands in their pocket already and we really appreciate them doing so; however, we feel we can feed you with further ideas to implement, mostly from home, that will allow you to raise additional funds on KATCAG’s behalf. If you are willing to help, please follow our lead – the first idea will be posted in a Blog tomorrow morning.
There are probably many more fund-raising ideas. If you feel inspired and have a great idea, please contact us at soonest.
Looking further ahead, Liz Rastrick, in her capacity as Trimley Recorder, interviewed me recently and made the point that KATCAG’s life was finite. She went on to pose the question “what next?”. Being natural optimists, the Steering Group has given some thought to what we will do if our fundraising is a spectacular success e.g. how any excess funds will be dealt with when the campaign ends in June / July.
Should this situation come about, we will consult all our site subscribers and ask for ideas. However, two that appeal to us are:
Identify environmental charities that campaign on countryside-related issues and give any excess funds to them
Re-constitute KATCAG as an on-going community trust for the benefit of Orwell and the Villages.
We think its objectives could include
ensuring our communities are kept properly informed (across Parish boundaries) about future issues
resisting unwanted local planning applications
protecting our communities in general
continuing to build a war-chest for the above purposes, but in a low-key way
It will be interesting to receive other ideas, however. Please share your views.