Twice a year Summerhill has a “Fun Weekend” here at the Garden Centre, when we ask our customers to help raise money for St. Luke’s Hospice whilst they have some fun.

We invite an array of local craftspeople to have a stall to sell their work and franchisees to promote their businesses. St. Luke’s have a large stand which features, amongst other things, bric-a-brac largely donated by our staff.

Many members of staff dress up to join in the fun and entertain our visitors especially the young ones who also have a bouncy castle and merry-go-round to keep them happy.

The  last “Fun Weekend” was on 12/13 November and St. Luke’s raised £1.672.00 from both their stand,  the collection boxes  and a raffle for prizes donated by Summerhill Garden Centre.

As a “dog friendly” Garden Centre we had many canine visitors as well as Billericay Dog Training School who gave demonstations by their clever dogs. www.bdts.org.uk

Special thanks go to Shaun from Flowowers of Billericay (the tallest White Rabbit you have ever seen) for his stilt walking and our customer Elizabeth and her daughter Philippa who together with Sharon, who’s son works for us, manned the food tasting stall. They all gave up their weekend to help us raise money. Thanks to all of you.

There follows some of the stalls which were here:-

1. Mandy from Pampered Chef
2. Lisa from Troublecat Jewellery- specialise in re-cycled jewellery www.troublecatjewellery.com
3. Lucy from Happy Hobbits- want to add some fun and sparkles to your parties and events/ Children (and adults love to have their faces painted and glitter tattoos too! contact Lucy on 01621 891482, email lucylmtc@aol.com, website www.happyhobbits.co.uk
4. Jo from Usborne Childrens Books
5. Lynn from Phoenix Trading
6. Michelle from Essex Eco Solar
7. Maria from Artistic Plan- original and unique hand drawn art for children designed by an artist. Any art work and other items can be personalised with your child name or any special message, which makes a truly special gift. www.artisticplan.co.uk