I can’t believe another year has passed and we have once again hosted a successful summer lunch in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. This being our third year as joint hosts, learning a few new little tricks each time and it fortunately runs smoother each year.

The marquee, kindly donated by the previous organisers came to the end of its life last year, so we were on the lookout for a replacement. Our friend’s, whose large garden we commandeer for the event, Mum came to the rescue and generously donated two, which can be interconnected, giving us more space for entertaining .

Now we knew our available space, planning started in earnest. To the horror of the kitchen helpers, we felt we could increase the number of guests from 45 to 60. The guests are very loyal, with most having supported the event since its beginnings, 13 years ago. We felt by increasing numbers, we could also invite new “members”, thus ensuring the continuation of the event for years to come. The compromise for the kitchen team was to simplify the menu, with less chopping, preparation and cooking.

To give ourselves a fighting chance and trying to beat inclement weather that was forecast, those that were available put the marquees up two days early rather than the day before, which gave us time the day before to collect the tables, chairs, crockery and cutlery loaned by the local community hall. This in turn allowed us to lay all the tables and decorate the marquees the day before, rather than the morning of the event. And in turn this meant we could have some extra hands in the kitchen before our guests arrived to ensure we could cater for the increase in numbers. Phew!

Our final number was 57, plus 16 volunteer helpers and two entertainers to feed, so we purchased supplies to cater for 80 to ensure       people would get their first choice from the menu. For the non caterers amongst us it seemed a bit daunting, but with a bit of forethought, pre packed salad and lots of teamwork, we put together 40 prawn cocktails and 40 pate’s as the waiters seated our guests and we were off.

Having learned from previous years, we served just 6 people at a time, our young lady servers taking an order, the kitchen team ensuring all six orders were ready together, before the waiting team took all 6 plates out together. As we were serving, the next table of 6 were making their requests. Despite having an extra 12 guests this year, it all ran extremely smoothly.

Our guests were having fun, the chatter and laughter in the marquees could be heard in the kitchen, and the waiting team joined in the banter as they weaved in and out of the tables. We sold out of raffle tickets and had to improvise with some home made ones, all the white wine was consumed and as it was a Sunday, we had to make any emergency dash to the supermarket for more, before it closed its doors!!

Once the mains were finished, two lovely friends entertained our guests, singing a variety of songs, both old and recent. They kindly gave their time for the second year in a row for free and gave the volunteers a bit of time to clear tables for the washing up team’s exhausting task and the kitchen team time for a glass of vino and to prepare for the main event, the dessert course.

After hearing the applause for our lovely singers, we knew we had 10 minutes to prepare as much as we could whilst the raffle was called. Then the hubby announced desserts and the cheer went up around the marquee.

It has become a tradition that there is a choice of approximately 15 desserts and once everyone has been served, our guests can have as many more as they wish. This year the record was 4!

Having survived the rain of the previous day, when we collected the tables etc in our soaking wet macs, the weather on the day of the event was glorious and after their three courses our guests were able to retire into the garden and the sunshine to enjoy coffee.

Once we had cleared the tables and helped the washing up team, our happy band of helpers were able to gather in the garden to thank our guests for joining us and announce that a quick tot up gave us a total raised of £1579. ( This turned into an amazing final total of £1663 ).

We were all elated. It is a pretty tiring few days, but each year we are able to tweak how we manage things, to make it a little easier, and no matter how tired we are, once we sit down to eat our own lunch and our happy guests head home, we can reflect on what we have achieved, and look forward to doing it all again next year.