FSW St Patrick’s Spring Supper: Great Company, Great Food, Great Entertainment – and all in a Great Cause!
On the 15th March over 90 people gathered in Wivelsfield Village Hall for a St Patrick’s Supper in support of FSW (Family Support Work). It was a really enjoyable evening all round!
Great Company: There’s little better than spending a relaxing evening with friends, and perhaps the chance to make a few new ones too. It was great to see Scaynes Hill, both church and wider community, so well represented by diners and performers alike (and several who managed to be both!)
Great Food: Irish stew and colcannon (traditional Irish mashed spuds & cabbage), all cooked by Martin Auton-Lloyd, FSW’s CEO, who is clearly a man of many talents! This was followed by the home made puddings for which the event enjoys such a well deserved reputation! The puddings were impressive in both in range and quality, and were more than plentiful enough for seconds – and for some (allegedly) thirds!
Great Entertainment: This was once more provided by Scaynes Hill’s very own Community Choir who sang with all their usual energy, warmth and joy. Their set was as wide ranging as ever and included favourites such as Beyond the Sea, songs from the Beatles and Lala Land, the traditional Gypsy Rover and to top it all a Queen Medley, which included a rendition of ‘We Will Rock You’ complete with an impeccably performed (well – almost impeccably!) ‘Stamp, Stamp, Clap’!
And finally the ‘Great Cause’, the real focus and purpose of the event. Martin Auton-Lloyd rounded off the evening by telling us some of FSW’s recent story. He explained FSW’s founding and on-going values and how the charity has developed and grown over recent years to the extent that almost all areas of Sussex now have an FSW practitioner. He also told us the story of a Mum and her family who FSW had supported through the challenges of Covid lockdowns and beyond. The Mum had suffered severe and debilitating fear and anxiety caused by the threat of Covid and its potential consequences, and the constant messaging and warnings. The slow but steady progress the Mum has been helped to make, and its positive outcomes for her and her family, were a telling example of the long term, non-time limited commitment FSW offers to those families it is able to support. Unfortunately the number of families in need of FSW’s services also continues to grow and all FSW practitioners now have waiting lists of families needing their support. So along with expressing his heartfelt thanks to all those who have supported FSW and its work over the years he emphasised how just how vital it was for that support to continue given the numbers and growth of families needing their help.