It’s that time of year again!

Well, how time flies, it’s almost 12 months since our last blog post due entirely to the fact that we’ve been so  busy. In 2018, by the time we all sit down to enjoy our well earned Christmas dinner, we will have performd or assisted at almost 30 events!

Our Calendar of events for November and December 2018 has now been published and we’re looking at a really busy few weeks ahead of us.

Wish us luck and we hope to see you!

It’s beginning to….sound a lot like Christmas!

It’s that time of year again and after a busy Summer we’ve got a full programme of events planned for November-December 2017. We’re pleased this year to be performing in the new Ikea Store in Sheffield, as well as Meadwhall, Tesco stores in Rotherham and Maltby and Crystal Peaks near Sainsburys and the Market Place.

As such our rehearsals are in full swing and we’ve been singing Christmas carols since September!

We hope you can make it to one of our fundraising events, your suppport really does mean a lot to us and we have to thank everyone that has offered to help with this year’s fundraising campaign.

Event Calendar Nov-Dec 2017

Tis the Season

Well, what an incredibly busy Christmas season we have planned. To date we have booked nine carol singing sessions throughout the region, kicking off on Saturday 26th November 2016 and ending on Sunday 18th December.

Full details can be found in our events section and on our Facebook page, but in summary they are as follows: –

26th & 27th November Meadowhall
3rd December Sainsburys Crystal Peaks
4th December Meadowhall
10th December Sainsburys Crystal Peaks
11th December Tesco Rotherham
13th December Morrisons Worksop
17th & 18th December Meadowhall

At this stage we don’t yet know exacty where we will be in Meadowhall, so watch this space as they say. But we can confirm that you will find us outside the entrance to Sainsburys on Crystal Peaks, in the entrance foyer at Morrisons in Worksop and in store at Tesco Extra in Rotherham.

This is by far our busiest time and as we are all volunteers with ‘day jobs’ it really does take a lot of planning and commitment so we’d be very grateful if you’d come along to one (or two or even all nine) events and show us your support…it’s so much more fun if we have someone to interact with.

 

 

First time Volunteer, Molly Hardy, shares her experience.

Molly Hardy recently helped Blu crew at Meadowhall during a carol singing event to raise money for Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice. We asked her about her first experience volunteering and here’s what she had to say: –

“Hi, my name is Molly and I am 14 years old. I spend my time doing my coursework for school and spending my time with family. I spend every weekend at my Nan’s. I love to help people in any way possible, just to see the smile on their faces. I adore dogs. I have two dogs, Gizmo and Buster. I couldn’t imagine life without them.

I became involved with Blu Crew when I went to see them to do a performance on a Saturday night and loved every minute of it. I volunteered to help out the next day when they were doing a performance at Meadowhall. I went the next day and enjoyed myself even more. It made me feel so happy how generous people are, especially a hospice close to heart. Since then I have been helping out.”

When asked: what did you enjoy most about the event?

“Seeing people joining in a dancing with their little kids and seeing how generous people are. Hearing people say how good Blu Crew were singing and saying how much they enjoyed it made it even more special. Knowing where all the money was going made you feel even more grateful for how kind people still are.

They were saying how good they were singing and saying it made their day just seeing them. I spoke to a women and she said it was her last Christmas, which broke my heart into a thousand pieces, but made me realise what this money can do and what people/kids are going through day to day. Some said “You all deserve the best Christmas for doing this from the kindness from your hearts.” One person said “This is better then what you find on The X Factor” which made me giggle a little.

Thank you to everyone part of Blu Crew for looking after me, I’ve loved every minute! Well done to Blu Crew because you sing amazing.”

Molly really enjoyed her time with Blu crew and has said that she would be willing to help us at future events; we are really grateful for her help and look forward to seeing her again soon.

 

Tea Party Success

On July 25th 2015 we had a fabulous open day with family and friends coming together to help raise funds for Bluebell Wood. It was a beautiful sunny day to drink tea or coffee and eat scrumptious cakes. We raised over £200. Our thanks to everyone.
Can’t wait for next year
Sybil and Elaine

When Stormtroopers met Star Troopers

As we fast approach Christmas and the cold winter days, I remember a warm sunny day in September when Blu Crew performed at the Bluebell Wood Open day. The weather was glorious and there were crowds of visitors enjoying the fun of the fayre, the hospitality and entertainment. What happened was a sight to behold! A group of Star Wars Stormtroopers marched into the entertainments marquee and hearing Blu Crew singing, promptly began dancing along. No it wasn’t an alcohol induced hallucination, it was the fantastic team from The 99th Garrison – a Star Wars costuming group, who had come along to support the Open Day.  “Dad dancing” was a good way of describing the actions but the audience loved it and despite their uncontrollable laughter, Blu Crew actually managed to keep singing, being the Star Troopers they are.

See the video of the day below and that memorable moment when the troopers took to the dance floor.

 

Bark Around the Park – 13th September 2015

We recently put John Hare under the spot light; John is a regular participant in our Bark Around the Park Event and so we asked him to tell us a little bit about himself and his pooches: –

“Georgie is a three and half years old German Shepherd Dog and is from our own puppy breeding scheme.  She has been operational for two years and this is her third Bark event.  I have been a dog handler with South Yorkshire Police for 21 years.  Surprisingly, over all that time Georgie is the first girl that I have handled.  She is by far my favourite and best.  She is quite a little star too, having recently appeared on BBC Crimewatch Roadshow.

Dawn, my wife, and I have been coming to Bark now for 4 years and our eldest pet dog, Rievaulx, a miniature poodle, is a veteran of all these events.  This year we will be bringing our new miniature poodle, Freyja who is just 12 months old.  We can’t think of a better way of raising funds for such a wonderful organisation that is Bluebell Wood and to be able to involve our dogs is fantastic.”

John's pooches
John’s three gorgeous pooches, Georgie, Rievaulx and Freyja
Bark Around The Park
John & Georgie at Bark Around the Park

“…Bluebell Wood is SYP’s chosen local charity to support this year.  There have been several articles on our Intranet site about upcoming events…” “…I have set up a Just Giving page to make it simple for colleagues to sponsor us.”

John’s Justgiving page can be found by following this link:

https://www.justgiving.com/John-Hare-and-Hounds

If you’d like to know more or want to join the sponsored walk yourself, why not visit our event section for more details?

Join The Brew Crew Virtual Tea Party

And Win A Luxury Yorkshire Tea Hamper!

With the support of Yorkshire Tea (Taylors of Harrogate) we are searching to find Yorkshires favourite tea shop.

Brew Crew - Tea PartyEveryone loves a nice cuppa in their favourite cafe, especially accompanied by delicious homemade cakes.  We would like you to Facebook, Tweet or Instagram a picture of yours, tell us where you are and you could be in with a chance of winning a fantastic Yorkshire Tea Hamper. #Yorkshiretea for a retweet too.

When you have posted your pic and voted, then go to free musically crown without downloading apps href=”https://www.justgiving.com/The-Brew-Crew/”>https://www.justgiving.com/The-Brew-Crew/ and donate the price of a cup of tea or coffee.  This goes entirely to Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice who support hundreds of awesome families across the region.

The tea room voted favourite in Yorkshire will be announced on Yorkshire DayAugust 1st.

The winner of the hamper will be drawn at random and notified by August 10th 2015