Monmouth launches its Shire Hall fundraising campaign in style.

Monmouth has discovered a brand new venue.  The front of the Shire Hall, ‘under the arches’ was transformed on Friday evening into a glittering arcade for a masked ball.  This event, was the first of many arranged by the Shire Hall Stewards for the restoration of the famous clock overlooking the square. 

As well as everyone having a fabulous evening, it also raised a whopping £2,600 towards the restoration of the clock.  All being well this will be restored to its former glory through the £3.2m Heritage Lottery Bid, with the town, through the Stewards, contributing to the matched funding.  The evening raised a whopping £2,600 towards this.

As the Chairman of Monmouthshire County Council said ‘Trust Monmouth to do things in such style.’  And indeed the whole evening was a glorious effort, with bags of class and excitement, which raised around £2,000 towards the £28,000 needed.

The elegant masked crowd included David Davies, MP with his wife, members of MCC Cabinet as well the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Council.  Local Councillors also attended and Cllr Terry Christopher, Mayor of Monmouth Town Council opened the event, looking resplendent in a Pharaoh’s mask, which matched the mayoral chain beautifully.

Richard Wills, Chairman of the Stewards paid tribute to Jenny and Debbie, the MCC area working team, who begged, borrowed and bartered from everywhere and everyone to make the evening a success.  Jenny and Debbie, in turn, praised the may sponsors colleagues and friends without whom the evening would not have been possible.

Thanks to Adventa and the Old Post Office restaurant in St Fagans, who together provided the mouth-watering ‘Made in Monmouthshire’ canapés. Our thanks also go to Abbey Mill at Tintern who supplied the delicious hog roast.

If the Shire Hall itself was the star of the show, the real highlight of the evening was the performance of the Loco All Stars.  A scratch group of Monmouth worthies who have individually won international acclaim in the classic rock and pop annals over many years.  They obviously loved the chance to get together to perform in a local venue, for such a worthy cause, and they donated a large proportion of their fee to the fund.  And the crowd loved dancing to their energetic and innovative versions of rock classics. 

If you want to see more, you can look up the pictures on www.horizonprofessional.co.uk, it might be fun to try and spot Who’s Who behind the masks.

Photograph by Ben Falla - www.horizonprofessional.co.uk