The roof almost lifted off Thirsk and Sowerby Town hall on Saturday with the swing jazz of SJB (Scruton Jazz and Blues) and a sell-out audience, who joined in with well-known numbers including Minnie the Moocher.
The event had been organised by Susan Rogers, a member of the Rotary Club of Adventurers specifically to raise money for Herriot Hospice Homecare, which provides end of life care and bereavement support across Hambleton and Richmondshire.
Susan said: “I’ve been a huge supporter of Herriot since joining Rotary and three years ago suggested a jazz supper event to which I’d bring my old jazz band from Buckinghamshire to play. Unfortunately we couldn’t agree on a date, so the project was mothballed. Three years on though, I have a new local jazz band, so the event was resurrected and eventually happened, and I’m delighted that we raised just over £1,700 for Herriot. The other reason it was such a successful event was we had three Rotary clubs working together, and the Thirsk club in particular provided several volunteers to run the bar and raffle.”
Stephen Ellis, of the Rotary club of Thirsk, Lucy Turner, of Herriot Hospice Homecare, and Susan Rogers, of the Rotary club of Adventurers and SJB band leader
Herriot Hospice is expecting to open the refurbished former Lambert Memorial Hospital in Thirsk as an in-patient hospice and bereavement centre in the next few months following a major funding exercise which has seen huge community support.
Lucy Turner, community and events manager for the charity, said: “The amount raised is wonderful and I’m so glad that this event eventually happened. On behalf of Herriot I’d like to say a huge thanks to Susan and SJB for providing an entertaining evening and also Thirsk Rotarians and other volunteers for ensuring that it ran smoothly.”
The pie and peas supper, supplied by Johnsons of Thirsk, went down a treat and there was a table piled with raffle prizes including a donation of a bottle of whisky by Stevenson Forecourts in Northallerton and a shop voucher from the White Rose book café in Thirsk.
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