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Oh what a night! Epic Scottish fundraiser held in Dunfermline

“Oh, what a night 
Late November during the freeze 
What a very special time for Sporting Memories 
We’ll all remember, what a night” 

(With apologies to the Four Seasons)

With temperatures at baltic levels ahead of the arrival of Storm Bert, the volunteers team from Dunfermline waited with more than a dash of trepidation as the very first Sporting Memories Fundraising event was due to start on Friday (22 November).

Would the ticket holders actually come out on “a night like this?” coursed through everyone’s mind. Would they enjoy all we had set up for them?

How the Fundraiser came to life 

There is actually a lovely backstory to this somewhat historic event – the first of its kind for Sporting Memories as a whole. One of our Club members at Dunfermline had been a founder member of the covers band ‘Van Kleef’. The band are extremely popular and successful across Scotland; indeed, they may well be one of the top bands around. Sadly, our Club member Jon was no longer able to play due to illness, but that didn’t stop the band wishing to continue to support their former bassist.

The idea came about with the volunteers over a cuppa about how to raise some much-needed funds and suddenly they found themselves with an event in the planning - all founded on the generosity of Van Kleef offering to play for FREE for one night for us.

How it all came together! 

There was quite a lot to be done and an ad-hoc committee was formed - at this point it is only fair to say that Diane and Mike Skicko stepped up to the plate way above and beyond the call of duty - They very much took the lead in sorting the venue and Mike, he of the silver tongue, managed to secure some of the most amazing donations to make the raffle exceptional, which enabled the event to run a 100-bottle stall, silent auction, live auction, 4-Ball Golf Auction, tombola that allowed for a night of endless fundraising! 

Members also contributed from our Fife Clubs by bringing along small items to their weekly meetings to make up gift hampers -What a success these were! 

The venue, The Royal British Legion in Dunfermline, proved to be an inspired choice, easy to access, looking great with hot food for those who wanted and drinks galore to keep the guests refreshed! 

Making the night a success 

But back to the question ‘Would folks come out on one of the coldest nights in November?’ - Of course they did and in their droves! 

It was a packed house for the night and never halted. Van Kleef kicked off and the dancing shoes went on at the same time as the floor was filled for the entire night with revellers all having a brilliant time. 

The Dunfermline volunteers managed to raise just over £5000 with more still to come from the 4-Ball Golf Auction - which is live till 30th November for anyone to bid on. (Click here to bid).

The big question is ‘Will they do it again?’ - Who knows at this stage as they massage their exhausted feet, but one thing is for sure, the whole team were marvellous and did a fabulous job of raising money and, perhaps more importantly, awareness of our work.