Ferret Racing: Friday 27th March

Just a reminder that our Ferret Racing evening takes place this Friday, 27th March.

The evening will take place in the school hall in Thame, commencing at 7.30pm. Tickets are £10, and include the price of a fish and chip supper. If you need a ticket then drop us an e-mail: stjosephsfund@googlemail.com

The last time we ran this event we raised £2000 for St Joseph’s Building Fund and we have high hopes for a similar total this year.

We have some fantastic prizes for race sponsors and winners, including two tickets for an executive box at Wasps Rugby Club, kindly donated by RB Dymott’s Builders.

Upcoming dates for your diary

Originally uploaded by kennysarmy

Friday March 27th: Ferret Racing

Place your bets on the feistiest ferret! A very popular evening when we’ve run this in the past (the last event raised £2000). Includes a tote betting service, fish and chip supper (and a bar!)

Saturday 18th April:  Easter Fun Day

A fun day out for all the family, including games, children’s tea party and an Easter Egg hunt.

11th February and 11th March: Coffee Mornings

Coffee mornings in support of St Joseph’s Building Fund have now been organised to take place once a month. Please come along for a chat, a coffee and a cake!

Coming soon… Gourmet Cookery Demonstration

Back by popular demand-an evening hosted by Mark Peregrine. Mark has worked for many talented chefs, including Raymond Blanc, at exquisite restaurants including L’Esperance (3 Michelin stars) and L’Oasis (3 Michelin stars) in France. The last time we ran an event with Mark tickets sold out within days.

Watch this space for details.

There’s something about a tombola…

Originally uploaded by a shadow of my future self

Yesterday was St Joseph’s Thame annual Christmas Fete, and the Friends of St Joseph’s were kind enough to give the Building Fund space for a stall.

We decided to run a tombola, and at one point were nearly overrun with customers. Partly this was due to the high quality of the prizes which had been donated (thank you very much to everyone who contributed). Partly I think this is due to the attraction of a tombola.

According to dictionary.com, ‘tombola’ comes from the Italian ‘to tumble or fall’, which is a reference to the fact that the tickets are usually held in a rotating drum.

We decided to give our tombola a twist, with numbered balls (a la Lotto) hidden in a barrel. For £2 you could pick out five balls, and if the number on any ball ended in ’0′ or ’5′ you won a prize. The odds of winning a prize are pretty good (roughly one prize for every turn), so everyone went home happy.

Thanks to everyone’s support and generosity we managed to raise nearly £200 for the Building Fund.

Date for your diary: Back to school prom

We now have more details of the St Joseph’s Building Fund ‘Back to School Prom’, and it promises to be a fantastic evening.

The prom will take place on Saturday 18th October at Thame Leisure Centre. The evening runs from 7.30pm to 1.00am, and includes a four course dinner, dancing to the award-winning band ‘The Commitments II’, plus a disco by Dj Kristian.

We’re also told there will be ‘surprise entertainment’ and an auction.

So, if you want to relive the best years of your life (dress code is strictly school uniform), then pick up your tickets from the school office, or email us on stjosephsfund@googlemail.com.

Fashion show update

Just a quick note to say that the Fashion Show planned for 19th September has been cancelled, due to unforeseen circumstances. The partner we were working with is now unable to fulfil its obligations on that date.

Sorry for any inconvenience – we’ll let you know as any new plans emerge.

Thame 10K: Photos

Here is the intrepid team that completed the Thame 10K on Sunday in support of St Joseph’s Building Fund.

The team looking relaxed before the big event.

 

Warming-up (very gently).

 

Warming-down…

 

Who said I was competitive?

 

How far? 

 

 

Don’t even think about talking to me. 

 

Don’t know what all the fuss is about.

 

Same time next year?

 

It’s even harder if you hold your breath.

 

Team spirit.

Thame 10K: report and final results

After a couple of days’ rest it seemed like a good time to reflect on the success of the Thame 10K for St Joseph’s Building Fund.

The event was very well organised, with great support from the Thame Runners club, including friendly and helpful marshals, excellent parking, and a well-marked course (including km-markers and road closures). The weather was fine, and cool – ideal for running, though slightly blustery. The course itself was a nice loop starting from Lord Williams’s Upper School, and taking in Thame High Street, Towersey and the Phoenix Trail. I have to admit there were a few more ‘inclines’ than I was expecting, which definitely slowed me up – I’ll have to train harder for these next time. There was also a welcome water-stop at about half-way (though I was behind schedule by this time, so I didn’t pause!).

There were over 850 finishers in total, with more than 15 of them running for the Building Fund. Using our online form we raised nearly £900, and so we confidently expect that when all the paper forms are collected, along with donations, we’ll have a total of over £2,000. (The online form is still live, by the way, so it’s not too late to make a donation).

The final results (including the accurate chip timing) are now available from Thame Runners website. Thankfully the chip timing shaved an extra few seconds off my time!

Here’s everyone I think ran for the Building Fund – if I’ve missed anyone, then please let me know.

Runner	Time
Rob Harris	1:04:55
Darren Baker	1:00:55
Stephen Fahey	0:58:53
Jake Collinge	0:51:06
Claire Totoni	1:09:02
Karen Penn	0:57:26
Theresa Heath	0:55:26
Antony Green	0:55:13
Huw Roberts	1:02:54
Helena Richards	1:07:30
Adrian Richards	0:50:23
Adam Buckland	0:47:23
Sinead Buckland	1:07:30
Claire Lowe	1:13:06
Sonya Cattell	1:04:42
Katherine Totoni	0:59:24
Steve Chainani	0:50:23

 

Thame 10K: We did it!

Just got back from finishing the Thame 10K, so this is a short post before I collapse.
We did it! A great team – loads of people who raised loads of sponsorship (exact amount to follow).
Well done to everyone who took part, and thanks to everyone who supported us.
More detailed post (with photos hopefully) to follow!

Thame Festival 2008

I’m very pleased to report that St Joseph’s Building Fund is one of the local causes that the Thame Festival has chosen to support. This is fantastic news.

This year’s Thame Festival runs from 9th to 14th June, with events including a Quiz Night, a Parade, a Fete and a Rock Night. The Parade and Fete take place on the 14th June. In addition, Thame FM will be running from 31st May to 20th June on 87.9FM, though you can also listen online here.

More details of the Festival can be found here.

Thame 10K: Messages of support

Our messages of support are flooding in along with online donations (which at time of writing are now over £400 – and this doesn’t take account of the paper sponsorship forms which are also doing the rounds!).

I thought it was worth highlighting a few of the more choice comments to give a flavour of the high regard in which our runners are held. There definitely seems to be a boss/colleague/friend hierarchy of comments – I’ll leave you to figure out which is which.

Phenomenally impressed Stephen! Not sure my knees would make 1km let alone 10km! Best of luck

Don’t cause an earthquake…..

Run Forest…. Run like the wind….

We’ll be cheering you on! Good luck and well done.

Run, fat boy, run. Don’t forget the oxygen bottle.

I hope you finish before the final of the European Championships