DSAA Beeline, Issue 1 2017

HOW PEOPLE HELP
Birthday bash
Octogenarian Peter Stacey tells us about
his very memorable birthday
ong-term supporter Peter Stacey is
L
Chairman of Poole Bay Classics; a
local family-friendly classic car
club which has raised tens of thousands
of pounds for our Charity. Their annual
motoring ‘Extravaganza’ takes place on
Sunday 16 July this year and is an event not
to be missed.
Peter turned 80 in January. Not content for
him to celebrate alone, his family and friends
had a little surprise in store.
“I hit the big ‘80’ just after the end of the first week of
January. My wife Daphne and I went out for lunch that day
and left it at that. Two friends invited us out for lunch the
following Saturday by way of a small celebration and I left it
to them to choose where we should go; I just knew it had to
have easy access as one of them is wheelchair bound.
“The fact that we went to the sports club where we hold
our Classic Car Club monthly meetings did not surprise me
as the food is very good there. As we walked through the
restaurant my friend invited me to look at the menu and
we both agreed that the steak and ale pie looked like a good
choice. At that moment, Daphne asked me to look in a side
room at some decorations that had been put up.
“I opened the door to discover 90 of my closest friends; two
of whom I had been at school with when we were 11, one of
whom had travelled more than 200 miles to be there. At that
moment my six, very grown-up children appeared in front
of me with their children and my great grandson, having
travelled from all over southern England to be there. The rest
I leave to your imagination, but I assure you I had no idea
that it was about to happen, it was just fantastic.
“When Daphne, (aided by my number two daughter Jen)
sent out the invitations, she wrote on the bottom of the
form ‘no presents’ (how many paper weights and ball point
pens do you need?), however, she did say that donations
could be made to Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance,
my favourite charity. They set up a collection bucket at the
side of my birthday cake. When we emptied the bucket the
following morning we were totally amazed; it contained
£608. A fantastic end to an amazing day – thank you to
everyone who joined me on my special day.”
Celebrations all round!
“On 29 October, we had a large family party
to celebrate key birthdays and anniversaries
within our family. These were: my mother,
Una Amesbury (80th birthday); my husband,
Andy (50th birthday); my daughter, Sarah (21st
birthday); my mum and dad Una & Randolph
(60th wedding anniversary); and Andy’s and
my 25th wedding anniversary.
All the above events fell within a three-month
timeframe, so we decided to hold the party in
the middle of them all. Rather than gifts, we
decided to ask for donations to Dorset and
Somerset Air Ambulance as Andy is a farmer
and we live in the countryside, so all know the
value of the service you offer. In total we raised
£1,170 and hope that our contribution has
helped.” Best wishes, Mrs Julie Hoskins.
Pictured: Andrew, Kirsty, Sarah and Julie Hoskins
Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance @dsairambulance 35
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