Fairfield Park Lower School (FPLS) parent and FM contributor Amber Fortier visited the FPLS PTA Fayre on 30 November and reported back to us. 

It was with cherry red noses and excited smiles that my family and I walked to the PTA’s Christmas Fayre, held for the first time at the Ruskin Drive campus of Fairfield Park Lower School. I was impressed with how many people I saw walking to and fro on the path to the school, and when we reached the car park, it was mostly filled. All excellent signs that the event was being well supported by the community.

As we cantered through the double doors of the main office, rubbing our hands together against the bitter cold, a beautifully decorated Christmas tree greeted us, with shiny wrapped presents and a lovely large sign announcing a hearty welcome to the Christmas Fayre and a £1 entry fee per family. A table with PTA volunteers was set up a little further inside to collect the money, and then a quick stroll into the Hall revealed the festivities! I could tell that my children were as delighted as I was to see all the Christmas cheer – Fairfield Park’s PTA certainly went all out on the decorations… Everywhere we looked, there were garlands and tinsel and fairy lights and Christmas trees. Many stalls were set up with local businesses touting their wares – from home made fudge to delicately knitted hats to high end, yet reasonably priced skin care products. This lent a wonderful, Christmas market feel to the Fayre!

My children’s obvious favourite stalls were the plethora of fun games with prizes the PTA had put together. Over a dozen choices confronted them, with such options as “Where Did Santa Drop the Present” in which participants were asked to mark a world map; “Snowman Throw” in which those part-taking had to toss a fluffy snowball through a snowman; and the biggest hit in our family: “Pick Olaf’s Nose” (though I think the play on words was lost on my five year old) in which a tray of variously sized carrots were tip-down, and the player had three guesses to pick the carrot with white paint on the end. All games cost 50p a go, and I’m very glad I raided our family’s communal change jar before attending!

I had a chat with the inimitable Emma Coates, current PTA Secretary and famous Prosecco pourer while she was manning the bakes and bubbly counter. She had this to say: “We would like to thank all the stallholders, volunteers, organizers and families who attended. We are also really pleased to have been able to hold the event at our Ruskin Drive site and to have so many volunteers from this site.”

Our bellies full of goodies and my change purse considerably lighter, my family and I made our way back home. It was a truly wonderful community event and I am hopeful the PTA will have raised a good deal from it – they clearly put in a lot of time and effort! Thank you to everyone involved for organising such a splendid Christmas Fayre!

The PTA raised £824.74 from this event and would like to thank everyone who contributed in any way.