Well, I didn’t expect to be writing another report for a newspaper dedicated to the good people of Hayling Island. What a fabulous speedy setup of the Hayling Herald by Hayling Print and Elise Sargent. We at the Businessmen’s Club are delighted we have this new venture to support the Hayling community, both in publicising the many charities and organisations doing great voluntary work and their fund raising events thriving on good publicity which I am sure the Herald will continue to support. In a place like Hayling good advertising of local businesses is great when you require a service or a trades person and can seek out that quality recommended local firm. We wish the Herald every success, as the people of Hayling have shown they love their own paper

Since our last publicity report we have held in July our Annual BBQ which was a sell out again. This year tickets were being sought on social media by those who had left it to the last minute. The roast beef and various other BBQ favourites were enjoyed by all with nobody leaving the event hungry. The evening was a great night for Dancing, with a Queen Tribute band being the highlight shared with a first class disco. Once again Islanders dug deep into their pockets and supported our fundraising with the profit being in the region of £7500. This was a fantastic amount for which we were very grateful, but we still need to raise approximately another £3-4000 over the year to keep the Community Minibus on the road. Our Bus is there for Community use, for which no charge is made providing it is a charity or good cause. So remember, if you see us out shaking the tin in Mengham or at local shops such as Hayling Hardware or Lidl you are helping us reach the budget needed to maintain the Bus. Our grateful thanks to our many sponsors, especially Northney Farm for the continuing support in allowing us to use the Farm.

Our next fund raising event is the hugely popular Pig Racing Event. This is to be held at the Community Centre on Saturday 9th November with doors opening at 6.45. Its Piggin Brilliant the night, with tickets being £10 for adults and £5 for under 12’s including food. Please do not think of reporting us to the RSPCA, the pigs are battery operated and no cruelty will be experienced by them during the course of the evening. You may however, if you place your bets on the right pigs end up having a free evening out with a generous meal thrown in. The Community Centre bar will be open for the evening. We have added an extra outlet for tickets this year to include East Hayling, so please pop in the Terracotta Pot shop if you live at that end of the Island.

Thank you so much for reading this report and as said previously we rely on your support. Come to an event such as the Pig Racing and see what a great evening can be had, especially a family night out with the children which can be expensive these days. We think we have a nice affordable evening which may just fit your budget.

April Report by Andy Lenaghan

It’s a sad day, starting on what will be our final report for the Hayling Islander. The Islander has always been a great supporter of local charities and organisations that support the Community. None more so than Hayling Island Businessmens’ Club, who have benefitted over the years from publicity for our fund raising events, without which possibly it would have been much harder raising the funds to keep our Community Mini Bus on the road. Our Bus is on the road seven days per week and is supplied free of charge to users, subject to being a Community group. We will all miss the Islander, not just for the support but the monthly read about everything that is happening on our Island.

By the time you read this it will be border line if it is before or after our annual BBQ, our main fundraising event. This year already it is a total sell out with people scrambling for tickets which are just not available, so just remember, buy early next year and believe us when we say they are selling fast, it’s not a marketing gimmick!! As we will be unable to report after the BBQ, we would like to thank Northney Farm for the continued support from them in allowing us to hold this event there every year. It is not without some inconvenience they allow it, as a great deal of equipment has to be moved and the barn cleared, so all round it is a fantastic and willing gesture from them. We would also like to thank all the local businesses that support us with the donation of raffle prizes, discounts on supplies and additional manpower we need for the event.

One of our other popular events is the Pig Racing, which this year is being held at the Community centre again and it is on the 9th November. All our events will be on our website or our Facebook page, so please follow us there. We will hopefully be given some editorial by the Portsmouth News to publicise our events, as well as advertising with them from time to time.

Our thanks go to Hayling Hardware for allowing us to hold a collection toward our running expenses. On a not so warm Saturday with the odd shower thrown in we managed to raise £169. Thanks also to our residents, who were so generous and supportive of our aims. It amazed us how many people expressed their thanks for the Bus during the course of our collection. Most of these were the elderly being regular users who would not be able to get to the various luncheon clubs, but for the Bus and the volunteer drivers.

Lastly, thanks to Simon Carter the editor of the Islander for his support during his time at the helm. Simon took time to visit the club, researched our history and gave us a recent wonderful editorial to help increase our profile within the Community. https://www.facebook.com/hibc.org.uk/ http://www.hibc.org.uk/

Contact us if you wish to know more about HIBC or wish to join as a local Businessman, Manager or maybe an enthusiast who has something to offer the club. E-Mail : secretary@hibc.org.uk

Lyn Green of HVS with the new Podiatrists Couch.

April Report by Andy Lenaghan

Hayling Island Businessmen’s club earlier this year purchased a new Podiatrists couch for the Health Centre. They have now taken delivery of the couch and Lyn Green of the Hayling Volunteer Services was eager to show how it will be put into use on a regular basis, although in reality she may have to remove her boots. Lin who helped with the fund raising thanked the club for their generosity in giving so generously.The club has attracted two new members in the past month and is proud it is keeping up its tradition of appealing to local men who are eager to help the community. Our main aim is to raise sufficient funds to keep the mini bus running but we also donate to other causes any surplus funds. If this appeals to you please contact us through our Facebook page or HIBC.org.uk

Booking a Queen tribute for our annual BBQ has proven to be a master stroke by our fundraising Chairman and tickets are selling exceptionally fast, so please, if you wish to secure a ticket, contact a member of the club or one of the outlets listed on our website or FB page. Remember the date is the 6th July at Northney Farm and the ticket price of £18 includes food. A great night is guaranteed, rather than hoped for, so don’t miss out.

For the past few years we have had a sponsor for our mini bus which covered the insurance costs, this has now ceased so we are seeking a new sponsor. This is a good way to advertise, as the bus is on the road on a frequent basis. If this method of advertising appeals to your company or organisation please contact us.

If you have any comments or wish to know more about the club please email the secretary@hibc.org.uk

Regards and thanks for your continued support and for reading this report

HAYLING ISLAND BUSINESSMEN’S CLUB REPORT. by Andy Lenaghan

At a recent meeting Hayling Island Businessmen’s Club they agreed to donate £100 to the Hayling COPP Heroes memorial fund to support the D Day 75 event on the 6th June. In addition to this £125 has been approved for the Army Cadets toward new equipment and £300 toward the newly formed Hayling Boxing academy.

The club are also looking forward to guest speaker Alan Priddy attending a lunch in April, he will be updating the club on his Team Britannia adventure. This is an exciting time with the team expecting soon to be ready to circumnavigate the globe for the much coveted UIM world record. This record is currently held by New Zealander Pete Bethune at 60 days 23 hours and 49 minutes.

The Club are also delighted to be supporting the HI5 event which is to be held at the Hayling College on the 27th April. Please look out for our stand and come along and have a chat, we will be able to tell you more about the club and our forthcoming events. This promises to be a fabulous event for the community offering support to all our schools, so please do try and come along.

February Report – Andy Lenaghan

The Hayling Island Businessmen’s Club held its AGM in January, at which outgoing Chairman Peter Blake thanked all members for the support over the past year. He stated it had been a successful year, especially for the funding raised and how it had been distributed to local good causes, as well as keeping the Community Mini Bus in use seven days per week for local groups and charities to use. He left the club in a good position, with new members joining so he was delighted to hand the role of Chairman over to Marcus Foot. Marcus has been a member for some years and is looking forward to his year in the Chair, having had several roles within the club. Many of our members were at the Club in 1989 when Marcus’s Father Geoff was Chairman. Geoff sadly died some years after this but is still fondly remembered by all of us. The older members all recall Marcus as a young lad coming along with his dad and helping at our annual BBQ at Northney Farm, however Marcus, now dwarf’s nearly all of us at the club.

The Club put on a very successful Christmas Party at Sinah Warren with over 200 tickets being sold. It was a wonderful event to celebrate Christmas and particularly good to see so many local firms attend. A great time was had by all, so a great big thankyou to the Management, staff and entertainers at Sinah for hosting the evening.

On Friday the 21st December the club held its annual street collection in Mengham at which a very healthy £349 was raised. All monies raised with no expenses deducted will be distributed to local good causes or to support the running of the Community Mini Bus.

On a sad note our Secretary Malcolm Newnes has had to retire from the club for personal reasons. Malcolm has been a willing volunteer since joining the Club in 2008 having found his niche in the role of secretary at which he excelled. I think though, most of you reading this will remember Malcolm as the Race Marshall at our very successful pig racing nights each year. We all sincerely wish him the best of luck for the future.

I look forward to keeping you up to date with club happenings over the next year and sincerely hope to see many of you at our fund raising events. You can keep in touch by visiting our Facebook page or our website HIBC.org.uk

Andy Lenaghan

Publicity HIBC