Mary Stevens Hospice is the Black Country Wood Turners nominated charity that we raise money for throughout the year not the least at the two Mary Stevens main events per year being the Christmas & Summer fairs.

Prior to the event opening to the public, we set out four main tables to take the items for sale:

• One charity table 
• Two tables for the club members to sell their items.
• One table for Kim’s Kraft (Ian’s wife) selling Christmas cards, boxes and decorative bags along with Ian’s turnings.

Opening times for the event were from 10.00 until 14.00.

The club members gave donations from part of their takings to go towards the charity pot.

In total, we had ten members turn up for the event to set everything up ready for the opening, With additional members joining us throughout the day to take in the event and have a chat, along with our newest member Bill.

The charity table is made up of club members turned items that they have donated to the cause of the charity, this table is used as a means of getting the general public to donate the amount that they think is appropriate for the item, nearly all the time with them giving more.

During the event, we had a steady stream of visitors into the event and from the look at some of the other charity tables being almost empty, it was a good successful event for them and gives them some much-needed funds.

At the close of the event, we were in a position to hand over a further £219.70 to be added to their overall funds.

The Black Country Wood Turners were pleased to be invited once again to put on a display at Mary Stevens Summer Fayre. The Fayre was held on Sept 3rd at the Mary Stevens Hospice Centre in Stourbridge

The day started out with the threat of thunderstorms which would put a dampener on the day (forgive the pun), this would have a big impact on the proceedings and the number of visitors and some exhibitors.

We started off by erecting four gazebos to protect against the weather, the tables and lathe were then put in place, at this point we need to thank Ian, Steve, Rob, Greg, Mike, Barrie and Roger, also to help set out the selling tables and charity table ready for the start of the open day.

After we had set up there were six tables of items up for sale, of which two were for charity. The lathe was set up in the middle of the other four tables with Steve again turning his spinning tops for the kids who came along with their parents. We also welcomed Steve’s wife Georgie with her Magical Makes of sewing and needle felting crafts.

The smell of the BBQ food stand was terrific, we were also entertained and serenaded all day by the excellent singing and music from the main stage. Lucky the weather stayed dry most of the day.

Arthur was in fine form with small toy tricks which went down well with both youngsters and adults alike, he also helped look after the charity table along with Roger, Mike & Greg.

During the day we had a steady stream of people wandering through the turning area with people also asking various questions and with the possibility of gaining a couple of new members.

At 15.15 the day came to a complete finish when the clouds opened up and we had a complete down-pore which caused us to start packing up very quickly with the turned items before we started on the units themselves.
Our thanks go out to all who helped out by pulling the gazebos down and storing them away safely we were all a bit damp by the time we got in our cars to go home.

Thanks go to all members who have contributed to the charity table, helped out on the day and visited the event to say hello and show the event support.

Special thanks go to Ian for supplying everyone with tea and coffee throughout the day, which went well.

We have already had a good start to the charity donations from the event held at the Sedgley Flower Show with a good starting point of £115. The total we have raised over these 2 events for Mary Stevens Hospice is £431

Report by Barrie Fisher, edited by Steve Hackett

The Blackcountry Wood Turners were pleased to be invited to put on a display by the Sedgley Garden Club at their Annual Flower Show held at the Sedgley Community Centre. We had a good day with a lot of interest in our display and the live turning demo of turning spinning tops for the kids. There were many sales. and at the end of the day, we had made £115 for our charity Mary Stevens Hospice.

Thanks to all members who have contributed to the charity table, helped out on the day and visited the event to say hello and show us some support.

The Sedgley Garden Club members put on an excellent display of fruit and vegetables, many of which were given to us for free at the end of the show.

We would like to thank the Sedgley Garden Club for the invitation and we hope to see you again next year.

Report by Steve Hackett

The day started with a small number of Black Country Woodturners members being in attendance to erect the stall area and the covers due to being in a position outside due to Covid rules.

Apart from the charity table which was the main part of the event we also had a number of members (Mel, Steve, Rob, Ian & Barrie) in addition to a couple of members items but could not be with us in person, to sell their own turned items, which included some Christmas items.

From items that members had sold, we had a 10% donation which went with the charity table amount to hand over.

A big thank you from the committee goes out to all club members who gave their time and effort to produce the donated items for the charity table.

The day itself was very cold which kept a number of people away from the event, but thankfully the rain kept away and we did have a steady stream of people passing through and buying the odd piece.

Ian looked after the charity table along with anyone who was free a the time and in the area of the table.

Ian’s wife Kim was also in attendance selling her Christmas cards table decorations and presentation bags which she had produced herself.

All in attendance also helped to take the equipment down whilst Ian sorted the funds to be handed over.

Report by Barrie Fisher and edited by Steve Hackett

Today we were at Mary Stevens Park for their open day. The event was open to the public from 10.00 till 16.00 hours.  It is a charity event organised by Mary Stevens Hospice as a fundraiser for their organisation.

The Black Country Woodturners put on a charity table of turned items that were donated by the members, for the purpose of helping the hospice in fundraising.  At the same time, we are able to put our own turnings onto the tables of which 20% of the takings are also donated back to the charity.

After the chaos of setting up the tenting area with three units, we had eight tables with a good mixture of various items for sale during the day.

The charity table was totally full and needed an additional table to display the items donated by the members.

The club had a good turnout of members who all had a good selection of turned items for sale.  We also had a lathe running and was manned by Steve who kept up a stream of spinning tops for the kids free of charge, this kept him out of mischief for the day.  It must be said that he was tired at the end of the day, but it was for a good cause.

During the morning there was a steady stream of people going through the selling area with the charity stall doing very well and clearing a number of items.  During the day we also had a good many people taking our club cards with a number being interested in starting to turn, it’s a case of watching this space for this, we were also asked about the club and how the items were formed and developed.  The weather was very kind to us during the day, with it being sunny which also helped with the turnout of people who attended the event.

Along with the turned items we also had a couple of wives joining us,  Ian’s wife Kim & Steves’s wife Georgina, who had their own craft stalls of hand-crafted items along with us.

A big thank you must go out to all who turned up for the event and helped throughout the day with setting up, selling, and breaking down again.  This help was very much appreciated with us being able to clear the site quickly.

We raised a total of £244.72 from the charity table, and from the club members the sale items we raised £90.00 at 20% commission, this makes a total of £334.72 that was handed over to The Mary Stevens Hospice.

Report by Barrie Fisher and edited by Steve Hackett

Today we are at Mary Stevens Hospice to present the Wig stands that were turned by the club members for the people who are undergoing treatment for illnesses who also need additional help with other areas of their treatment and wellbeing.

Those present for the handover were Roger Cheshire, Stephen Hackett, and Barrie Fisher, committee members of the Black Country Woodturners Club.  James Totney, the community, and events fundraiser from Mary Stevens Hospice accepted the Wig stands from us on behalf of the hospice. James stated that it was a pleasure to accept them and was impressed with the craftsmanship being displayed.

At the handover we undertook a photoshoot of the Wig stands and people present, James also had Beth come along for the event. 

He also stated that he is looking forward to the visit by the club for the summer fair being held in September.  In addition, he confirmed we would be able to have an area for the items that we can turn for the charity to sell, so they can gain additional funds for the Mary Stevens Hospice.