Nov 2010 - CHRISTMAS FAYRE SUCCESS! Following last years successful Christmas Fayre, the 2010 one held on Sat 27th November was also very successful - with star attractions Santa and his live reindeer, attendance was good despite the first ealry snowfall of the winter!  THanks to all who attended, all who helped by donating items for the tomnbola or cake stall or who volunteered their time and effort to help out on the day - we are most grateful.

Oct 2010 - NEW 2011 CALENDAR Following the success of last years calendar - a new 2011 calendar is now available.  Last year's calendar was described as a "real quality calendar but a little highly priced".  With this and many other comments in mind, we have decided this year to go with a cheaper format but hopefully you'll agree still a quality product.  Rather than full A3 sized, this year's is A4 but folds out into an A3 size so effectively the same size as last years.  We have also moved away from having just pictures of Lowe Stand to include other photos of local heritage sites such as an old shot of the original Hoyland Town Hall, St Helen's church, Elsecar Heritage, Wentworth Woodhouse etc. And also for the first time we are featuring the winners of the school (Hoyland Primary School) art competition. We hope you will like this year's one and of course buy it at the very reasonably priced £4.99.  Copies can be purchased at Walkers newsagents in Hoyland Town Centre, Herbal Delights at Hoyland Common and a few other places to be announced.  Or direct from us at one of the events listed right or we can deliver to your door (if local) for £4.99 cash on delivery.  Contact us at info@lowe-stand.org.uk for this option (please allow up to 7 days for delivery this way).

SEP 2010 - New patron - Geoffrey Howse We are delighted to report that we have a new patron - it is the local renowned author, actor and theatrical producer Geoffrey Howse.  Geoffrey has taken a keen interest in the Group since it was formed and now can play a bigger role as a top level supporter and patron.  He is particularly noted within Hoyland for producing the books Around Hoyland, Around Hoyland - a Second Collection, and Around Hoyland - People and Places. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Howse for more details.

OCT 2010 - Sir Michael shows cash support! One of our 4 patrons, Sir Michael Parkinson has made a significant cash donation to the Groups fighting fund.  Thankyou to Sir Michael!  If you haven't already seen it, see Sir Michael's website at http://www.michaelparkinson.tv

SEP 2010 - B&Q Grant We are delighted to report that B&Q have donated £250 worth of materials to the Lowe Stand Group - this is being used to shelve out our storage container - used for storing all the equipment and tombola prizes etc used for our stalls / fundriaing etc.  Thankyou to B&Q.

SEP 2010 - New Business Plan To have any chance of securing a lease from Barnsley Metropiltan Borough Council and to secure funding from the Heritage Lottery Funding, the group needs to prove that the restore of the Stand is a) wanted by the community (and of course we are convinced it is) and b) is sustainable (ie. can effectively pay for it's own future once restoration complete).  To do this we have had to produce a business plan that demonstrates our ability to achieve all this.  This has been through several iterations but to ensure the best chance possible, we enlisted professional help from an expert in this field - David Kevill FCCA FCMA of Inspire Business Training Limited.  He has helped us produce a very professional looking Buisness Plan.  See www.inspirebuisnesstraining.co.uk for details of the services they can provide.  The Business Plan has been presented to the council and discussions about the lease are now underway.

AUG 2010 - Summer Fayres and Galas This has certainly been a busy season of summer fayres and galas.  We have attended many and been overwhelmed with the support given to the Lowe Stand by the local people and the organisers of the events.  We must single out Hoyland Common Primary School for their particular generosity with regards to their summer fayre. The school offered 3 seperate donations totalling a wonderful £240 from their Sunflower Competition, non-uniform day and from their T-Shirt printing.  A super gesture and we can assure that the money will go towards savinga nd restoring the stand. THANKYOU Hoyland Common Primary School!

May 2010 - Another Great STARS Night! Many thanks to the wonderful STARS IN OUR EYES group for another fanatastic show and a great fundraiser.  The event was held at the Hoyland Nether WMC on Broad St, Hoyland on Sat 15th May and attracted a great crowd.  Many thanks to the club as well for staging the event and helping the group raised over £600 towards restoring the Stand.  Thanks also to the Group members who played their part on the night.

Mar 2010 - Security Fencing in place The security fence around Lowe Stand has now been put in place - well done to Jack Elliott for doing a good job.  See the photos of the fence being put up HERE.

Mar 2010 - Great Donation! We are delighted to report that Hartwood Estates http://hartwoodestates.com/home.html have made a £1,000 donation to Lowe.  Many thanks to this local firm.

Mar 2010 - Easter Fayre Success! click for larger image Despite the poor weather, people still made the effort to come to our first Easter Fayre on Sat 20 March - a big thankyou to all those who came and partcipated in the Easter Crafts, supporting the stalls and taking some refreshments... There are pictures of the event on the Gallery page.  The raffle result numbers will be in the gallery too - The Rabbits name was "JEDI" and the number of Eggs in the Jar was 247 (yes, quite a lot) - the nearest guess was 249.

Feb 2010 - Stars in Our Eyes - Super Night! click to see larger image For the secod time, the Stars in Our Eyes group gave us a night to remember - on Feb 20th in front of a sell-out audience, they performed and we raised a great deal of funds for the Lowe Stand cause. Thanks to everyone who was involved, whether as a volunteer helper, sponosr or attendee - your efforts and cash were most appreciated.  ANd thanks again to the Belmont club for hosting this event. A gallery of pictures can be found on the Gallery page. See a list of thanks from our supporters on the Supporters page.

Nov 09 - Christmas Fayre a great success! Raffle Draw Numbers Click to see larger The Christmas Fayre held at St Andrew's Parish Hall on Saturday 28th November was a huge success.  Thanks to everyone who was involved, whether as a volunteer helper, sponosr or attendee - your efforts and cash were most appreciated.  Special thanks to Clive Smith for bringing the two reindeer, Garrie Dearden for 'supplying' Santa and Granville D Clarke for making an appearance and doing the raffle draw.  The raffle results are in the image right - click to see larger view.  If you think you've won and you haven't been contacted by a Lowe Stand Group member by 9 December, then please contact us at info@lowe-stand.org.uk. The winner of the Name the Reindeer was Madison who correctly chose "Snowflake". A gallery of pictures from the fayre can be seen on the Gallery page. See a list of thanks from our supporters on the Supporters page.

Nov 09 - Christmas Fayre a great success! Raffle Draw Numbers Click to see larger The Christmas Fayre held at St Andrew's Parish Hall on Saturday 28th November was a huge success.  Thanks to everyone who was involved, whether as a volunteer helper, sponosr or attendee - your efforts and cash were most appreciated.  Special thanks to Clive Smith for bringing the two reindeer, Garrie Dearden for 'supplying' Santa and Granville D Clarke for making an appearance and doing the raffle draw.  The raffle results are in the image right - click to see larger view.  If you think you've won and you haven't been contacted by a Lowe Stand Group member by 9 December, then please contact us at info@lowe-stand.org.uk. The winner of the Name the Reindeer was Madison who correctly chose "Snowflake". A gallery of pictures from the fayre can be seen on the Gallery page. See a list of thanks from our supporters on the Supporters page.

Sept 09 - Charity Status Granted! Charity status has now been granted to the Friends group... registered charity number is 1131613.

Jul 09 - Stars in Our Eyes event - A Major Success! click to see larger image An excellent night of entertainment was enjoyed by all who attended the Stars in Our Eyes night at the Hoyland Town Belmont WM Club on Sat 25th July.  The generosity of all who went to the show, and/or bought raffle tickets before and during the show and supported the tombola on the night - this all helped raise nearly nearly £1,100 for Hoyland Lowe Stand, a tremendous amount! Thankyou to all for your support! And thanks to the many buisnesses that helped and contributed gifts for the raffle including The Belmont Club, The Hoyland King St Co-op, Cottage Flowers, Ardsley House Hotel, Barnsley Bowl, M&S, Walkers Newsagents, Spohisticutz etc etc!  See also section on Supporters page. And a real big thanks to the Stars in Our Eyes Group - they were fantastic!  See confirmation of the raffle prizes and winning numbers HERE

Jul 09 - Mayor visits the 'Stand' Not Lowe Stand... but he did visit our gala stand at Tankersley & Pilley gala on July 4th.  The mayor, councillor Ken Sanderson, accompanied by his wife, stopped and chatted a while and took a great interest in what we were doing.  Hopefully, a new supporter for the cause! click for larger image

Apr 09 - Lowe Stand sealed Following further damage inside the stand, agreement was reached with Barnsley council to seal the Stand - this was done by the Friends over the weekend of 4/5 April with some large metal sheets put over the main opening and the small window.

Apr 09 - Charity Registration Application Underway Work is continuing by The Trust to become a Registered Charity. Becoming a Registered Charity will help the Trust apply for more Grants and Funding from various sources, and will obviously show people and businesses that The Hoyland Lowe Stand Trust are a group determined to see through the process of Renovating the stand.

Mar 09 - Grant Received for Feasibility Report Great news, a grant has been received for £633 allowing us to get the feasibility report actioned for saving and restoring Hoyland Lowe Stand.  The report is now underway and hopefully will be ready in early summer!