You may have seen a few weeks ago on our social media, we told you about a charity joust that had been organised by our own church team member Sam Sedgwick and her husband, Steve. This was done to raise funds for two schools – Arley Primary School (Sam and Steve’s local school) and the Island Project, a specialist school working with children with severe autism, who are completely charity funded.
The Big Day!
Sam told us that the day could not have been better; the sun was shining, the ground was perfect and the event was a fantastic success. The crowd were brilliant at supporting their favourite knights, featuring Steve as the King (in blue), Meg as the Queen (in red), Sir Barker of Sidmouth (in green) and Lord Ivall the Evil (the fearsome black knight).
Following a fantastic demonstration of their abilities in the Skills at Arms section, our knights took to the tilt for the jousting contest. There were plenty of thrills and one big spill, when the Black Knight and his horse were separated. (Un)fortunately he was fine and remounted to challenge the King!
Sam added “None of it would have been possible without an amazing team of people helping us out, including our squires, grooms and those helping on the ground with the equipment. We wanted to add a special thank you to Janice Owen of Contract & Home Blinds Ltd for the knight’s tabards and horse’s caparisons; Aaron Gregory of Fresh Radio for lending us the PA System and Arley Primary School for hosting us and allowing the horses to run about all over their football pitch! Most importantly, the biggest thank you needs to go to the horses who were impeccable all day and enjoyed it as much as we did; these were Boo (King’s horse), Buddy (Green Knight), Casper (Queen’s horse) and Callie (Black Knight).
Sam and Steve also wanted to say a huge thank you to all those who visited and supported the event and those who have donated so far. The total raised at present from takings on the day and online donations is just under £1,000 which will be split between both schools.
There is still chance to donate by visiting their Just Giving page at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/arleyprimary-theislandproject-charityjoust
