Thursday 25 February 2010

Tea Ladies!

We were very lucky with the weather - the sun shone for most of the morning. We set up the tea trolley in the middle of the market, and Shepherds very kindly allowed us to put the urn we'd borrowed from the Cat's Protection League in their private kitchen at the back, and run in and out with hot water. We borrowed the tea trolley from the Youth Group at the Community Centre, and all went down there to dress up and decorate the trolley. Which we then had to wheel through town, with Jo ringing her handbell to announce our coming.
We gave out something like 125 cups of free Fairtrade tea (the Indian Princes variety from the Co-op, who generously gave us supplies). Most people were supportive; some already drank Fairtrade tea, and others commented on how nice it was.
Derek and Tim, both in drag, took one of the big teapots and a stack of cups, and went round the local shops. Derek/'Ophelia' had a long wig and lipstick smeared roughly round his mouth and a brown overall and skirt, and Tim had balloon breasts under a purple dress with a red and yellow wig. We got James into a purple wig and a pinny, but that was as far as he would go. The rest of us girls had turbans and overalls or pinnys.
Photographers turned up from the Brecon and Radnor Express and the Hereford Times, and Marches TV turned up at the end, but didn't really have time to do any filming.
And Les who runs the market asked if we'd like to do it again next week, because it had brightened the place up!

Tuesday 23 February 2010

Tea Ladies

We all went round to Jackie's house last night. It wasn't exactly a meeting - and Jackie had laid on some lovely nibbles and drinks. What we were actually doing was comparing costumes for Thursday, when we're all going to dress up as tea ladies and give out free cups of Fairtrade Tea at the Thursday Market. We're borrowing a tea trolley from the Youth Club at the Community Centre, and getting hot water from Shepherds.
The look we were searching for was Nora Batty/Amy Turtle, rather than anything more glamorous (does anyone else remember Crossroads?). Three of us will be cross-dressing, though James refuses to wear a skirt on the grounds that it will be too cold. There was at least one purple wig in evidence for use on the day (and it'll keep someone's head warm!). The rest of us will be wearing the sort of turbans that Hilda Ogden, another style icon for the occasion, used to wear.
It should be a lot of fun, as long as we don't freeze! As Tim, who will be joining us, said, "People will remember the weird ladies who gave them tea, and associate that with the Fairtrade label - and hopefully they'll then want to drink more Fairtrade tea!"

Wednesday 3 February 2010

Congratulations are in Order

Jump4Timbuktu are feeling very proud of themselves at the moment - and so they should be - they've just won the United Nations Gold Star Community Award for Livelihoods for their work between Hay and Timbuktu. The Hay Medics also won a Gold Star for their medical work with Timbuktu.