Norton in Hales united on Sunday to enjoy a fun day out and raise money for organisations in the village.
The second annual fun day took place at Norton in Hales Cricket Club with attractions including an assault course, archery range, pony rides and a barbecue.
New to this year’s event was a scarecrow competition based on children’s TV characters, which was won by Norton in Hales youngster Rose Brennan with her version of Bob the Builder.
A tug of war tournament, won by Norton in Hales Cricket Club, also proved popular and organisers believe around £4,000 was raised for village causes, including the primary school, St Chad’s Church and a new community sports pavilion.
Villagers Lisette Hammond and Andrew Ligocki said: “The fun day is a great thing to have because it’s a great community event and it’s nice to support the village.
“I think it was embraced by Norton in Hales people pretty well and most people were willing to help if asked.”
Sally Egerton, from Norton in Hales said: “There were a few more people here than last year and it was ideal to have something to support all the things in the village.”
Nicola and Steven Oliver, from Loggerheads, said: “Our son Oliver goes to school in Norton in Hales so we thought we’d come along.
“It was a nice afternoon, with plenty to do and lots to keep the kids entertained.”
Visitors had the chance to see inside the new community sports pavilion, being built to replace the cricket club’s old pavilion which was destroyed by fire in January 2008.
Local farmer Matt Eardley, who designed the assault course, said: “Last year, because of the disaster with the cricket club pavilion, we thought the most important thing was to raise money for the new community sports building.
“But this year we thought every part of the village had put a lot of effort in, so everyone should get a bit out.”
One of the organisers, Jennie Furnival, said: “We were quite pleased with how it all went and we’ve raised more money this year than we did last year.
“It was just really nice that so many different parts of the community were able to join together and we’ve got some ideas of what we can do if we do it next year,” she added.
By Winston Brown