June Volunteers of the Month - Lichfield group
This month we celebrate a fabulous team of Brooke volunteer fundraisers, led by Sandra Newcombe. Sandra leads a dedicated and passionate group of volunteers from her family owned Veterinary Centre and farm near Lichfield. The Lichfield group have been fundraising for Brooke for over 20 years and have raised close to £250,000.
Representatives of the Lichfield group
The team plan and organise a variety of fundraising events, from plant and tack sales to quiz nights and are the face of Brooke at Your Horse Live. Many new and existing Brooke supporters visit the stand year on year to make their annual donation and support Brooke by buying Christmas cards and play the tombola with 1000 prizes. And the group's Murder Mystery evenings have proved very popular in the past.
Sandra Newcombe said: “There are so many memorable events, from auctions and murder mysteries to pamper evenings and so many village fairs. On one memorable occasion in bad weather the gazebo was completely ruined and all but blew away. Horse of the Year show used to be our biggest event and we met some wonderful supporters."
The support the Lichfield group receives from their local community is far reaching, from donations of tack to invitations to speak about our work. To get the message out there and gain support they lobby livery yards, veterinary practices and feed merchants to donate items for their tack sales. They design and print fliers, once distributing over 1000 for a pamper evening. They find word of mouth is best and of course social media spreads the word quicker than anything. The team are truly creative in their fundraising activities.
We are always thinking about new ways to raise funds for Brooke, and even in lockdown we held a successful online plant sale raising £1,000 and are now planning a social distancing tack sale this Summer. Our heartfelt desire to make a real difference to the lives of hard working animals and the communities who depend on them for their livelihoods never wains. The work Brooke does to reach those who need it most is truly amazing. It is becoming more challenging in this day and age to raise the money but we will keep trying!
Sandra and the Lichfield team of volunteers are part of a large network of volunteers fundraising for Brooke around the UK. Money raised from volunteers goes towards Brooke’s work across Africa, Asia and Latin America, making lasting improvements to the lives of working horses, donkeys and mules and the people who depend on them.
If you’re interested in volunteering or joining a group, please email [email protected]