Play.Eat.Laugh.Sleep..Pickwell: Our first Charity Ball

Saturday 31 December 2011

Our first Charity Ball

Last Monday we held the event we have all been waiting for...our first charity ball.

It was all to raise money for the Purple Teardrop Campaign which raises awareness of the fight against human trafficking.

Our book group has accidentally spent the year reading books which all seemed to carry this theme somewhere within them...so we decided to act on it. We gathered together all our mates and this is what happened.

Our wedding caterers did a fantastic job of creating a three-course canape supper

which included hand printed 'happy christmas' biscuits!

They worked really hard in our kitchen behind the scenes.

The ballroom looked amazing and all because of our Holly and 'You Tube' instructions on creating a balloon arch! What did one do before 'You Tube'?!

This is the girls setting it up. Each balloon cost £10 and there were 67 (out of 100) incredible prizes attached to each balloon to ensure almost everyone was happy! We also had a silent auction in a different room for the bigger prizes.

At the last minute the ferret man cancelled :( He said it was too cold for the ferrets to be outside..it was 11 degrees!!!! Instead we changed the plan to Bug Racing and provided 5 wind-up bugs!

Our friend Angela, who is not a florist, did an amazing job of creating flower arrangements all over the place.

We want to say a big thank you to all those who gave so generously and others who worked so hard to make this event happen. We sold all 150 tickets and raised a total of £4,000!

For very lovely and professional pictures by Pete Cox, please see our Facebook page.

Thank you x

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Our Story

Many people have asked what the story is, how did the Bakers and Elliotts come to be at Pickwell?

Are you sitting comfortably?

Tracey and Susannah became friends at 6th form college. Steve and Tracey lived in the same village in Sussex. Steve's dad was the vicar and Tracey's dad was Steve's scout leader. Even more wierd, Susannah's dad (also a church minister) and Steve's dad were friends, but Steve and Sus never met.

One summer Tracey took Susannah along to a youth summer camp. Steve was one of the leaders (read : heightened attraction) and a little later Steve and Sus got together. During their 6 on/off years they met Richard, a blue eyed boy from Guildford.

At a club night run by Steve, somehow through the dark and crowded room, Tracey and Richard bumped into eachother (if you have seen the shapes they pull on the dancefloor you would know how easily this happened)..

In the year 2000 they all got married. Tracey and Susannah were eachother's bridesmaids. They have remained firm friends ever since.

When Steve and Susannah came across Pickwell Manor, they knew they couldn't manage such a project on their own. They asked the Elliotts if they would give up their house, their jobs and their community to come and live and work with them and own the project together. They knew there weren't many people they could ask to do such a thing knowing they would still love each other by the end. So they all left everything in Sussex and came to Devon.

They moved on the same day in August 2008. It has been a crazy, wonderful, scary, emotional and beautiful experience so far. All of them would say they feel very ALIVE!

Since they moved they have run 51 successful and wonderful weddings (with more to come), many, many holidays, built or totally refurbished 6 apartments from scratch, updated carpets, painted white throughout, put in quite a few kitchens and bathrooms (including 2 baths on concrete plinths), changed much of the furniture, converted a laundry and have started to convert the chapel. Every year they also have a bonfire gathering in October, an Easter Eggstravaganza fundraising event, and anything else that is not-for-profit that they can fit in. Tracey has completed a dissertation and gone back to nursing for 2 days a week, Steve has started up a new company in London, Richard has mastered a lot of the running of the house as well as training as a coach, specialising in stress management, Sus has taken on the interiors and Tracey and Susannah have learnt weddings in at the deep end! All with 4 young Pickwellians by their sides.

"Our passion is for making life count. Our values lie in
friendship, celebration, valuing others, and social justice. We see Pickwell as a reflection of these things but also a place for rest, recouperation, laughter and conversation. We want to support charities and social enterprises to fufil their dreams and make a difference."

"We love Devon, we love the community here, we love seeing our children grow with nature and discovering the great outdoors. We have to pinch ourselves sometimes when we think about our life here, it is amazing".