YCCA Dinner raised £13k for fighting fund

Gemma Verdon Vice Chairman (Membership) of the Association, Marcus Fysh MP, Cllr. Linda Vijeh, Alexander Priest Chairman of the Association, Faye Purbrick Vice Chairman (Political) of the Association

Chris Gough, Jackie and Joe Thomas 

Mary Wardell Chairman of Chard branch, Russ, Teresa Sienkiewicz, Peter Chard, Di Nicholls 

Sue Greenwood, Peter Booth 

Paul Bradly Vice President, Josh Williams Brympton Parish Councillor, TB President 

Kate Siebert, Simon Saunders owner of the local Ariel factory one of the few UK manufacturers of cars, Faye Purbrick 

Patricia Heelis and Morag Le Hardy

Local Conservative supporters turned out in force earlier this month for the Yeovil Conservative Constituency Association autumn fund raising dinner held at The Shrubbery Hotel, Ilminster.

In addition to a splendid, but simple, dinner of tomato soup, roast chicken and apple pie, long standing supporter Martin Dair conducted the after dinner auction of promises, raising a whopping £13,000.

The 24 lots on offer included a wine tasting by local wine expert and county councillor, Linda Vijeh, which raised £580, a Henry Hoover £160, and a private tour of the local Ariel factory, which proved popular at £520, in addition there were tickets to Ascot which went for £500 and a bottle of House of Commons whisky signed by Theresa May, with a winning bid of £110.    

Current President of the Association, Terry Bate, said, ‘With local county council elections coming up in 2017 all political parties are all too aware of the need for a strong fighting fund if they are to succeed. I felt that having had a such tremendous result, when Marcus Fysh was elected as our MP last year, it was time to ensure that our support had not waned in the intervening months. The problem we had was that the event was so successful we had to turn people away, as with 130 diners The Shrubbery was at maximum capacity. I was thrilled with the results of the auction of promises, which far exceeded anything we have previously achieved in one evening. I was also really encouraged by the number of new, dare I say it, younger members, who have joined us recently. 

All in all it was a resounding success, but I could not have done it without the fantastic support of Diane Bradly and Teresa Bond, who organised everything.’