Monday 30th May – Bank Holiday

For the third year running we were invited to attend the Duck Race at Loose and for the third year running the weather was great.

Hundreds of people turned out for this yearly event The world famous Loose Duck Race which took  place along the Loose Stream.

All the usual favourites were be found in Brooks Field, including the tea tent with home made cakes, pastries and cream teas, the plant stall (with a wider selection of plants and a professional garden designer on hand to give planting advice), gifts including Loosey Duck mugs and notelets, the Black Sheep of Loose mugs and notelets, duck quackers and lots of other duck related goodies, the coconut shy, face painting and children’s games.

Our stand was buzzing with people coming up wanting to see the greyhounds and also some old friends such as Chloe and Jay who were homed not so long ago and Shadow another of our ex residents. The usual suspects were there April, Hazel and Ben all eager to meet and greet.

A Thank You to Molly Proctor who arranged for us to be there and for her help and Millie’s during the day by selling plants to help us raise funds.

We hope to be back next year for another lovely day.

Below are some of the photos of the day…..enjoy

Friday 20th May 2011

A BIG THANK YOU to all of those who came along to support us on our 5th Anniversary Charity Night as we clocked up another successful evening raising £3607.10 much needed funds.
Also let’s not forget all of the people who sponsored and who helped on the night because without them we would not have been able to have such a great evening.
The South East Afghan Racing Club came along to put on another entertaining race, so a big thank you to Maria Niedzwiedz and all the members of the club.

Below is the Afghan Hound Race…………Enjoy

Here are some other pictures of the evening.

And Finally………………… Thank you to Brian Booth and his staff at the Rosedale Kennels who look after the greyhounds awaiting new homes  and for all their support in organising the parades and bringing along some of the greyhounds that we have available for homing.

“Lesley Evans, a helper with Sittingbourne RGT, celebrated her 60th birthday on 16th May, and at a tea-party for over 20 of her friends she asked for donations to the RGT instead of presents and they generously raised £115. Her sister gave another £15 so a total of £130 was handed over. To celebrate her 60th year she has been doing 60 things she hasn’t done before throughout the year, including wearing the Homer suit, making an episode of “Eggheads”, karaoke, driving a forklift truck and going to “The Globe”.Being 60 was obviously one of the 60 things and she was pleased to use the occasion to help the RGT.”

A BIG THANK YOU TO LESLEY AND HER FRIENDS

Our Stand at the Gathering

Hundreds of greyhounds descended on Nottingham  for the Retired Greyhound Trust’s Great Greyhound Gathering. The weather was kind to us yet again for another year. Thank you to Leah, Geoff, Elvis, Katie and Nellie who came along to help out. April and Hazel took it all in their stride.

The show, which was held at Nottingham Racecourse, Colwick Park, for the fourth year running, saw greyhounds and dogs of all breeds showcased in front of Crufts judges Keith Thornton, Ann Raymond and Lynda Race.

Seven and a half year-old retired greyhound Chico, from East Riding and owned by Susan Brown for the last three and a half years, won the pinnacle event – Retired Greyhound of the Year.

The RGT also announced the winning design of its Ultimate Dog Coat competition. Five-year-old Eve Clayton, from St Helens, was announced as the national winner and paraded her design around the show ring with last year’s Greyhound of the Year, Skye.

Eve’s design, which beat hundreds from around the country to become the national winner, was transformed into a real coat by dog coat designer Laura Bailey, from Petite Pooch.

The event was officially opened by the Retired Greyhound Trust Chairman Dr Andrew Higgins and the Trust’s new Trustee, MP Andrew Rosindell.

Ivor Stocker, from the Retired Greyhound Trust, said: “This year’s event was excellent. We had great support from people who came from across the country and raised lots of money for the charity. Thank you to everyone who came to support us.”

WHAT A BRILLIANT DAY……….. A MUST FOR 2011

Below are some photos of the day……enjoy

Challock Goose Fair 12th September

We arrived on time for once and we were set up and ready in no time at all. This was the 25th year of the Goose Fair and the third year running for us. The good weather was with us again. There were all sorts of craft stalls, food stalls, home made cake stalls, fly ball, classic cars, a climbing wall, fair rides, stunt bikes and lots more. We had loads of visitors to our stand including some ex residents. The usual gang were their to help and we would like to thank Leah & Geoff with Elvis, Katie and Nellie, Julie and Mark with Bugsy and Wellington, Lesley with Ben, Phil, Mellisa and Justin with Greg and Honey and Ann with Girlie.

We had a great day and this event is a definate must for 2011 it has something for everyone. Below are some pictures of the day

Chartham Village Fete 5th September 2010

A lovely old fashioned village fete with stalls like throw the wellie, mouse trap, splat the rat, a dog show and lots more. We had a great time, with lots of interest in the greyhounds. April and Hazel certainly enjoyed all the attention. A great afternoon for all the family including the dogs.

Saturday 4th September 2010

Andy Tyson is a kennel hand for Trainer Bob Pattinson and wanted to help us raise funds to do his bit to help the Greyhounds when they finished racing so he decided to do a sponsored push bike ride from the kennels he works for in Basildon to the Stadium in Sittingbourne - a mere 40.4 miles!

Andy is, by his own admission, not a bike rider and has certainly never cycled this far before but has been training very hard and is eager to raise as much money as he can, so please help him and show your support by sponsoring him with as much as you can afford.

Paul Buckley, an owner at the kennel has been helping him train for this event and will provide support on the day in case of punctures or breakdowns.

The push bike Andy will be riding has been kindly donated by Cranford Control Systems Ltd in Marden and will be raffled when Andy arrives at the Stadium in Sittingbourne, so one lucky winner will be taking it home with them.
Details of the push bike are as follows :-
Moore Gents Tracker Bike
It has – Oversized hi-tensile steel frame for rugged reliability, with oversized hi-tensile steel forks and powerful V-type brakes for good stopping power.
Shimano 18 speed twist shift gears that make light work of the hills.
Colour: Blue.

The raffle tickets will be £1 per strip and if you come along to the Central Park Stadium on Saturday 4th September (doors open at 5.30pm) Andy will be selling the raffle tickets on the night, if he can still walk that is!
If he can’t walk after cycling 40.4 miles we will ask Homer the RGT Mascot to do it for him!

You can sponsor Andy via Paypal by clicking the button at the top of this page (please write that it is sponsorship for Andy in the comments box so we know what it is for).

There will also be sponsorship forms around the stadium in the following places where you can fill in the forms with your name, address and contact details, you will also be able pay up front if you wish to :-

At the fast food cafe – See Glynis for the form

At the Retired Greyhound Shop on a Saturday evening

Upstairs in the Euro Suite Restaurant – Ask for Sam or Tracy who will assist you

Andy Tyson, Bob & Maureen Pattinson – Everyone knows them so just ask to be pointed in their direction.

If you are a UK Tax payer don’t forget to tick the gift aid box so we can claim an extra 20% of your donation from the tax office, so if you donate £10 and tick the gift aid box the total amount you will effectively be donating is £12.50.

You can also send a cheque made payable to Sittingbourne RGT to :-

Sittingbourne RGT
C/o Central Park Stadium
Church Road
Eurolink
Sittingbourne
Kent
ME10 3SB

Please write ‘Andy’s Sponsored Bike Ride’ on the back of the cheque.

Thank you all for your continued support.

The Route Andy will be taking is shown below

Preston Steam Fair 26th & 27th June

What a great weekend. We pitched our tents on the Friday night as it was cooler and decided that we would have the two tents up which would give more room for the dogs to stretch out. It did not matter whether you were interested in steam engines or not as there was something for everyone. There were the classic cars and bikes, Fair ground rides, lots of stalls, horses, dogs, ferret racing, displays and demonstrations and live music. Not forgetting also the beer tent which housed the big screen for people to watch the football.

There was a steady flow of people throughout the two days that we were there and we had a lot of interest in the dogs to be homed. The old favourites like Elvis came along to help with his two girlfriends Nellie and Katie, Elvis has built up some what of a fan club and we are always asked how he is doing. Greg and Honey were there to help us too along with Girlie and Lady. April now and old hand at these events took up her usual position on her bean bag together with Hazel who was some what of a novice, it’s hard work lounging around and looking pretty all day but they all managed it quite well.

Thanks to Anne, Geoff and the Gibbs family for helping out we could not continue doing these events without their help so a big THANK YOU.

Below are some photos of our time at the fair.

Ham Street Country Fair 5th & 6th June

A two day event and what a scorcher. The sun shone and my god it was hot but that did not deter the people turning out for the big event. This was our first year here and certainly well worth attending.

There was everything form the Wyoming Wild Bunch which was a wild west re-enactment society, the British Lawnmower Racing Grand Prix, a festival of transport, Family circus and Air display. Something for everyone.

We had a lot of interest in our stand and everyone who came along enjoyed the day. Below are some photos of the day.

A BRILLIANT DAY WELL WORTH A VISIT IN 2011

May Bank Holiday

The weather was kind to us again this year when we attended the Duck Race at Loose. There were cake stalls, craft stalls, white elephant stalls a caricaturist, victorian penny arcade games and of course the Duck Race. This is were you purchase a plastic duck to race on the stream and I beleive that this is a tradition that has been done for years.

We had a lot of interest in the greyhounds and we even met some ex residents and I was especially excited about meeting Marmite again and catching up with how he has settled in with his new family and I am please to report that he is doing great.

We would like to thank Molly Proctor and Milly for inviting us and also to everyone who came along to help.

Below are some pictures of our day at Loose.

A GREAT DAY