Essex charity committee celebrate 20th anniversary of family favourite fundraiser

CHILDREN’S charity Action Medical Research will be taking over Layer Marney once again on Tuesday 2 October.

The twentieth annual ‘Action in the Autumn’ fundraiser was first launched by the Maldon Committee in 1999 and since then has helped raise nearly £180,000.

“The first shopping extravaganza was held at Braxted Park” remembers committee treasurer Sheena Berney. “We stayed there for a number of years before moving to the historic Cressing Temple barns in 2007.

“After seven years there, we decided to revitalise the whole event and so we moved to the beautiful Tudor gatehouse of Layer Marney Tower. It’s a wonderful place to visit and a great venue to do a spot of shopping and enjoy some lunch!”

While this event celebrates a key fundraising milestone, the committee’s long association with Action dates back even further.

It was launched in 1971 and was originally called the ‘Wickham Bishops Committee’ with five dedicated members.

Now, it boasts a team of ten and is stronger than ever. Sheena says she feels lucky to be involved:

“I first joined in 1992 and have loved every minute of it! We all take great pride in doing our bit to help raise funds for Action.

“We have invited a number of previous committee members to join us on 2 October and so hopefully we’ll get a chance to reminisce and share some stories.”

This year’s event will have around 40 stalls selling a huge range of products including gifts, oils, cheese, clothes and accessories and much more.

Admission is £5 which includes coffee and homemade biscuits.

Action’s Head of Community Fundraising and Major Giving David Graham said:

“We are very fortunate to have some extremely dedicated volunteers across the UK.

“This is a fantastic milestone for the Maldon and District Committee and everyone involved – past and present members alike – should be very proud of what they have managed to achieve. Here’s to the next twenty ‘Action in the Autumn’ events!”

Action is a UK-wide children’s charity which funds desperately needed research to tackle the diseases that devastate the lives of so many of our children. It has been funding medical breakthroughs since it began in 1952 including helping to introduce the first polio vaccines in the UK, developing the use of ultrasound in pregnancy and testing the rubella vaccine.

The charity is currently funding research into areas including premature birth, epilepsy, asthma, scarlet fever, cerebral palsy, brain cancer and some rare and distressing conditions.

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