Cake in the community: the Big Bramhall Free Tea Party 2018

The fifth instalment of the Big Bramhall Free Tea Party was, as predicted, bigger and better than ever before. Taking place on July 6th at St Michael & All Angels Church Hall, our special event for Bramhall’s older residents was so popular this year that our keenest guests arrived half an hour early!

We were delighted to have handed out 350 tickets to this year’s event – that’s 50 more than were distributed in 2017, and even more visitors arrived on the day. Of course, we welcomed everyone – ticket or not! The sun was out, spirits were high and the event was a great success.

I Love Bramhall was supported by dozens of local businesses – as well as students from Bramhall High and youngsters from Bramhall 4th Scouts – in arranging this popular event. Thank you so much to all of our helpers on the day, as well as to the businesses who provided funding, donations and complimentary services – most notably to our key sponsors Bramcote Dental Practice, Cheshire Hearing Centres and Jon Richard. Without everyone’s help, this annual fixture would just not be possible.

Joining us on the day was Stockport’s Mayor Walter Brett and Mayoress Maureen, who met with many of our local business and charity representatives over the course of the event.

Lynne Fox – Bramhall High Headteacher meeting Mayor of Stockport

Mayor Brett commented:

“The Big Free Tea Party is a fantastic occasion – it’s wonderful to see communities coming together like this. A big well done to the organisers and companies that have so generously made this event possible, and to the young people from Bramhall High who have shown such citizenship and community spirit.”

The Big Bramhall Free Tea Party has been held at St Michael & All Angels Church for a number of years; I Love Bramhall would also like to extend our thanks to Reverend Calum Piper for so generously hosting us every year. Reverend Calum actively promotes the event’s key message: celebrating our older residents and showing them that they are not forgotten.

“The Big Bramhall Tea Party is a special opportunity for the older members of our community -especially for those in care homes – to get out, see friends and enjoy themselves,” Reverend Calum commented.

“It’s a great privilege for St Michael & All Angels to facilitate this event, which gets bigger and better every year. We were lucky to have 30 young people from Bramhall High helping out, as well as 4th Bramhall Scouts – they’ve done such an incredible job and without them the tea party wouldn’t be the success that it is.”

Guests were treated to delicious homemade cakes, scones and savoury snacks, courtesy of skilled residents and foodie businesses the Baking Tray, Marjoe’s, Plumcake, Bombay to Mumbai, Sandwich Heaven and Superjam. B2B International donated Pimms and lemonade as a welcome drink for our guests.

We had some wonderful choral entertainment from the Chorus Choirs, as well as music from singer Ian Lawton, accordionist Rob Howard and Gary from Absolute DJs Ltd.

Other kindhearted businesses providing their services free of charge included Elo Lemos Clinic, who were offering facials and complexion assessments, Guinot, who were giving some of our visitors makeovers and Amaranth, who treated guests to relaxing hand massages. Station Road Opticians offered visitors a novel eye test based on the number plate element of the driving test and Hayley from Your Support Team handed out fans to grateful recipients seeking a bit of relief from the heat.

Charlie from Francesco Bramhall was also in attendance, providing complimentary haircuts. Francesco representative Sal commented:

“We love this special occasion, it’s a lovely day for everyone and so nice to be able to give back to the Bramhall community.”

We were touched to receive some glowing responses from our guests, too – Sheila Mills commented:

“The Big Free Tea Party is great! My niece is a teacher locally and it’s lovely to be waited on by the students from Bramhall High, who have helped out so diligently. Great entertainment, too!” Christine Nesbitt?, who was brought along by a friend, thanked us for a “thoroughly enjoyable afternoon” and a “very special afternoon tea,” while Raymond Floyd commented that “there were many smiley faces on show – everyone enjoyed the occasion”.

Eileen Pemberton said:

“It’s a very, very good event – the atmosphere is great and the food is lovely.” Meanwhile, John Tost, who visited with his young granddaughter, added: “The Big Free Tea Party is very enjoyable – I come every year with my wife, who helps provide the entertainment by singing in the choir.”

So there we have it, another brilliant Big Bramhall Free Tea Party brought to you by I Love Bramhall and our generous, ever-growing community of volunteers! Here’s to the next instalment!

Photos were kindly donated by Gillian Walsh Photography

Words by EVE Writing Services | Marketing your message

Buy us a coffee