HIBC report for December 2018 – Bruce Mowatt (Publicity Officer)

The club members met the shoppers at the new Lidl stores on Hayling while collecting outside the store for club funds. We had on display the community bus and our club banners. This event proved successful, with many shoppers giving willingly, and recognising the good work for the Island community carried out by the club. The total collected was £254.90.

Our next collection for club funds is in Mengham on Friday 21st December again look out for the Community bus and listen for festive music. If you see us and can contribute to the collection, we will be very appreciative, and you can be sure that every penny donated goes towards worthwhile causes on the Island.

The club would like to thank you all for the generous support it receives from local businesses and stores around the Island for the past year, which enables us to arrange events such as the annual BBQ and Pig racing, and donate to worthwhile causes

The club’s final luncheon of 2018 is on the 20th December, and we anticipate that all members will be in attendance, to welcome our guest local MP Alan Mac. We will be treated to a secret Santa, who will enable members to exchange gifts (they have purchased to a minimum of £5) with other club members, not knowing which of the wrapped gifts they will receive in return. Our fortnightly Luncheon meetings although working to the meeting agenda, are relaxed, and allow for friendly banter between members.

The 80 tickets provided by the club free for the senior citizens on the Island to attend the pantomime performance of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears at the HIDS theatre on Monday 14th January have been distributed.

I am pleased to report that the club has donated to many worthy causes this year and the latest are: – the ‘Happy Feet and Toddler group’- the group under Lindsey Wilson conducts a weekly session on Thursday mornings at Hayling Island Community Centre for toddlers/babies of local parents/carers to meet and have fun in a controlled environment, also towards a Christmas party for deprived children, also the Hayling First Responders towards their essential services.

Club member Dave Stanway was delighted to announce that he has serviced 2 laptops with a further 2 to repair for use by the ‘Job Club’ who meet at the HICCA.

The name of the club can be a little misleading and it is not necessary to be a Businessman to join! Any gentleman who has the time and the interest to be part of a club with the Ethos of helping the less fortunate can apply for membership. In addition to aiding this worthwhile cause through the planning and arranging of events, there are several social gatherings throughout the year, for members, partners and guests, the combination of these events enables members to build close relationships and find friends for life.

Contact the Recruiting officer at – recruitment@hibc.org.uk for more details

HIBC report for November 2018 Bruce Mowatt (Publicity Officer)

A fantastic Pantomime (Oh yes it was)

Once again, the HIBC senior citizens Christmas Party and pantomime was held at Sinah Warren hotel. 300 Senior Citizen party goers were welcomed by club members at the entrance to the theatre, our party goers quickly seated themselves in the theatre to allow the Hotels entertainment team to commence the proceedings. The pantomime this year was ‘Puss in Boots’ and all guests were joining in and enjoying the show. The consensus after the show was the best Pantomime to date. After the pantomime the Hotel staff efficiently served refreshments and cake to our guests. Traditionally the afternoon finished with everyone joining in the 12 days of Christmas, all were in good voice with entertaining actions, prompted by the entertainment team. The club members thank the management, and staff for allowing the party at the Sinah Warren Hotel in their recently updated theatre. Note: – Every year all tickets for the Christmas party are suppled free to our party goers. The club takes satisfaction that it is helping the senior citizens of the island to enjoy an entertaining afternoon with friends.

A few days after the Christmas party our annual Pig racing night was held at the Community centre. This is a fund-raising event with the proceeds helping towards the island Community bus, and other local worthwhile causes. This year over 100 tickets were sold, and all tickets holders had a tasty supper during the pig racing. Watching the piggies race each other is very entertaining because you are never sure that they will reach the finishing line, before knocking into each other, or even falling over. I should mention that the pigs are battery powered and are auctioned at the end of the evening. Betting on each pig, and sponsoring pigs is welcomed, it is possible to go home with more loose change in your pocket that you started with. I am sorry to say that this is the last time that our Secretary Malcom Newnes will manage this popular event.

Do not forget to book your table for our Christmas party at Sinah Warren hotel on the 21st December, see our advert in this paper.

The club has also distributed 80 free tickets for ‘Goldilocks and the 3 Bears’ Pantomime held at the HIADS theatre, in January 2019, again to benefit the elderly on the island.

HIBC Report for September 2018 – By Bruce Mowatt HIBC Publicity

Arrangements for the Pig race night to be held on the 17th November at the Community Centre are well underway. The evening will enable the little ‘piggies’ to compete in 7 races each one striving to be the race champion. Over the years it has proven to be a popular fun night with tickets at £9 for adults and £5 for children under 12 years of age. The admission price includes a race card and supper. The club is looking for businesses or individuals to sponsor a pig.

The club is holding the Ladies night at the Langstone Hotel on the 3rd November tickets are priced at £35 to include sit down meal and entertainment, also the club has provided 80 tickets to allow Senior Citizens to attend the next production called the ‘Ghost Train, at the HIADs theatre, held from 20th until 27th Oct.

The members were pleased to assist the Community centre with a donation of £1000 towards their request to build a new Reception and office at the centre, also £200 each to the Hayling scouts and First responders for their assistance with the 2018 BBQ.

The Health centre Voluntary service are trying to raise the cost of a new special purpose Podiatry chair, the members agreed that we should provide the remaining £785 to meet the full cost of the chair. The NHS do not have the funding locally.

Tickets for the Christmas party at Sinah Warren Hotel held on the 21st December are selling and suggest that if you want a festive start to your Christmas then this is the event for you, and your friends to attend.

HIBC Report for August – Bruce Mowatt HIBC Publicity

The club members work together to ensure that we maintain enough funds to continue donations to local good causes and operating the Community Mini-bus which is provided without cost to the bus users. We receive income from our organised annual events, including the BBQ, Pig racing, street collections etc. The club funds also benefit from donations received from local organisations. I am pleased to declare a donation of £3500 was gratefully received from the Lions to contribute to the community bus project.

Representative club members were invited to the Hayling College to present the HIBC annual awards to the worthy winners of the Sports person of the year and for male and female Drama.

Our next major event is the popular Pig racing held at the Community centre this is on Saturday 17th November 2018. Please ensure you note the event in your diary, and it is a good fun evening.

With the dust finally settling on this year’s BBQ our club treasurer reported an overall increase to the club funds of more than £4000. Please rest assured that your support is greatly appreciated, and every penny raised, contributes to the Community bus project, and other worthwhile local causes.

Use of the Community bus continues to be in high demand on week days, but normally there is some availability at weekends. Local organisations are welcome to contact Trevor Slydell at minibus@hibc.org.uk for more details. Please remember that use of the bus is offered completely free of any charge. You must provide you own driver who needs to be no more than 70 years of age.

HIBC report for July 2018 – Bruce Mowatt (Publicity officer)

What a great night we all had at the HIBC annual BBQ held at Northney farm by the kind permission of Stan and Mary Pike. The 400 plus ticket holders enjoyed hot beef, chicken, sausages and burgers with plenty of rolls and fruit, with the option of buying the farms famous ice cream made from their own cow’s milk. The evening started with a disco, and then the Diamond band soon had the audience up on their feet dancing the night away. The theme of the evening was from the musical Grease, but the band versatility was evident when they played music from the fifties onwards. With drinks priced at sensible prices and plenty of bar staff, queues at the bars were kept to a minimum. Planning for the 2019 BBQ begins soon after the close of the 2018 BBQ with a meeting to discuss lessons learned and improvements for the next BBQ. I can announce the Headline act for 2019 will be a Queen tribute act. This act proved very popular with the audience at their recent show at the HIADS theatre.

Setting up the BBQ is a major effort for the club membership and willing helpers, this means that we change a working farm to a night club venue with enough seats and tables to enable the ticket holding guests to sit and enjoy the evening. The bars, toilets, stage, lighting, BBQ’s, signage, food, Charcoal, and cooking utensils are all part of the set up. Of coarse we must not forget the DJ and Headline act. The membership agrees that when the evening is in full swing and everyone is enjoying themselves, it makes all the planning and preparation worthwhile knowing that all profits earned from the evening will go to help HIBC to continue funding the Hayling Island Community Minibus, and other local worthwhile causes. The club’s Summer draw 2018 the prize winners were selected at random during the evening and any winners not at the BBQ will be notified by phone or mail. We have been helping the Hayling Community for over 50 years.

On the morning after the event the club members, and volunteers attend early morning at the farm to pack everything away into our container ready for our next BBQ function in 2019.

HIBC Report for June – Bruce Mowatt

The annual Hayling Barbeque held on the 14th July at Northney Farm will soon be with us, so if you have not purchased your entrance tickets for this great event, then I urge you to buy them while still available. Ticket price is still only £17, this includes all you can eat barbeque food, with competitive priced beer, soft drinks, and wine bar. A Grease tribute band, and disco will ensure your evening entertainment is well catered for. In the event of inclement weather, the main barn is available, thanks to kind permission from farm owners Stan, and Mary Pike, who once again allow the BBQ to be held at Northey Farm.

Tickets for the HIBC grand summer draw are still available to purchase at £5 per book of 5 tickets, or single tickets at £1 each. There are 12 great prizes with a total value of around £1500. Note all prizes are as indicated -no cash alternative.

The prizes are: – Luxury overnight break for two at the Langstone hotel with dinner, wine and breakfast / Warner Hotels holiday voucher value £200 / Sunday Lunch for 12 persons at the Sinah Warren Hotel / Android Tablet PC 32 GB / Echo Spot (Alexa) / Bosch Tassimo Coffee Machine / Case of Rioja Gran Reserva wine / 1 Litre of Whisky / 1 Litre of Vodka / ½ Bottle of Gin / Bottle of white Port / Bottle of Valpolicella Wine.

Raffle tickets are available from club members, or on the night at the BBQ. The draw takes place during the evening of the BBQ. Prizes can be claimed on the night with production of the winning ticket, all other prizes winners who are not at the BBQ will be notified by phone after the event, a list of prize winners will be published on our web page.

All proceeds from the above events, and activities is used towards the running costs of the Hayling Island Community bus, and other deserving local causes

HIBC report for May 2018 Bruce Mowatt HIBC publicity   

We thank the Proprietors of the Hayling Hardware Store, for allowing us to collect on their site, and the customers, for generously contributing to the club funds on a cold Saturday. The funds from this collection help us to contribute towards the HIBC community Mini-bus free of charge, for the benefit of the clubs on the island. The total collected was £142.

The Mini-bus is normally fully booked during the week but has availability over the weekends. If you wish to enquire about using the bus for the benefit of your club members, or other worthy causes over the weekend then please contact Trevor Slydell at minibus@hibc.org.uk

The club was disappointed when our recent luncheon meeting held at’ Seacourt’ was cancelled, this was due to an important event held at Seacourt attended by a royal visitor, we understand that the event was very successful and therefore our loss was a Seacourt gain.

An event to be held at the HIDS theatre on 2^nd June is the Skiffle and Song, presented by the CCADS musical society based in Portsmouth, and The Southsea Skiffle orchestra. This is forecast to be a very entertaining evening and recommend that you purchase your tickets at the theatre box office while tickets are still available. Tickets cost £10. Proceeds from this show will go to help the club with its fund raising.

Another important club fund raising event is the annual BBQ held at Northney farm by the kind generosity of the farm owners Stan and Mary Pike. It will be on the 14^th July featuring one of the UK premiere acts with a GREASE themed night. I am assured that this band are very versatile, and we will all have a very enjoyable evening. Combine this with the all you can eat freshly prepared BBQ food, and competitively priced beer, soft drinks, and wine, with tickets priced at £17 then this is an evening not to be missed. Tickets are on sale now, and can be obtained from members, or from our normal outlets on the Island. Please ensure that you are not disappointed because last year tickets sold very quickly. In the unlucky event we have inclement weather then the main barn is available.

Tickets for the HIBC summer raffle are now available to purchase at £5 per book of 5 tickets, or single tickets at £1 each. There are 10 grand prizes to be won.  Tickets are available from club members or on the night at the BBQ. The draw will take place during the evening of the annual BBQ, prizes can be claimed on the night with the production of the winning ticket, all other prize winners not attending the BBQ will be notified by phone after the event. A list of prize winners will be published

Did you know that you can also support the club by buying tickets for the Havant Community Lottery, 60 % of the ticket cost is used for good causes? There is an opportunity to win a total prize of £25k if you match all 6 numbers in the correct order. Every ticket has a 1 in 50 chances of winning a prize every week. Ticket cost is £1 per line. When joining and purchasing tickets for the Havant Borough lottery please indicate that you are supporting the Hayling island Businessmen’s club this will ensure that the club benefits from your ticket purchase. For more information please contact: – www.havantlottery.co.uk./support/hayling-island-businessmans-club. Or phone 02393190011

Do not forget the HIBC Christmas party being held at Sinah Warren on the 21^st December 2018 tickets are now being sold, and we would hate you to miss out on this event. Read our advert in this edition of the Islander for more information

New members are the life line of any club and our club is always investigating ways of attracting new members. We also understand that it may not be possible for working gentlemen to become club members due to their working commitments. This normally means that they would find it very difficult to attend our luncheon meetings on a fortnightly basis. Therefore, we have a new membership called ‘Associate member’ this will enable you to support the club with our charitable events during the year, when you have the time available. Unlike full membership there will be no yearly subscription payment and will be able to attend our friendly events and get togethers during the year. It is not a commitment of the associate membership, but when you have more time available, you may consider becoming a full member with its benefits and be able to attend out Luncheon meetings on a regular basis. For more information please contact the Secretary at: – secretary@hibc.org.uk