THE Mermaid Tavern held its first charity fun day in aid of Help a Guernsey Child.
‘The idea was to reinforce Herm’s ethos of being a family place with children in mind,’ said Tavern manager Tom Jones. ‘As a large number of our summer visitors come from Guernsey, it’s our way of giving something back to the 
community.’
The event, which was sponsored by the Guernsey Cider Company, took place on the Mermaid campsite in the large field next to the tavern.
The entry price covered unlimited use of the bouncy castles and inflatable slides (provided at a generous discount by Big Kids Guernsey), and the children’s entertainer, Mark the Magician.
Other attractions were a bucking bronco (kindly donated by Eventure), a coconut shy, and burger and hot-dog stands, with food donated by Phoenix Foods.
Shop manager, Neil Waterhouse, provided all the toys and prizes for the coconut shy and children’s raffle, while his talented partner, Juliet, did some creative face-painting.
The day was supported by Island FM, which sent DJ Richard Harding over to do a live link.
‘Island FM have been supporting Help a Guernsey Child for many years,’ said Richard. ‘Our main fund-raising day is the Big Kids’ Day, which this year will be held on 26 September. But we are still operating throughout the year, as today shows.’ Richard agrees that it is important for Herm to be a part of Guernsey society.
‘It’s fantastic to hear that things like this are happening in Herm. It is a beautiful island and we will always support events like these. It’s nice for us to meet listeners from other islands. I need to thank everyone for being so warm and hospitable today.’
There was a raffle throughout the afternoon, with prizes including dinner at the Black Rock restaurant, a gallon of beer, a mobile phone with credit and a magnum of champagne (generously donated by Bucktrout & Co).
The highlight of the event was a live auction with many items donated by the various Herm departments, such as self-catering and camping holidays, two nights at the White House and a 25-year-old malt whisky.
Guernsey Sea Cadets from TS Sarnia were in attendance to help out with the stalls.
Despite wind and rain at the start of the day, which certainly affected visitor numbers, by lunchtime the sun came out and the afternoon was warm and bright.
‘We weren’t going to come today because of the weather,’ said one visitor. ‘But I’m so glad we did. We’ve had such a good time.’
With the kind permission of Travel Trident’s Peter Wilcox, one child per adult travelled free on the ferry, helping to make the event a busy one.
‘I need to say a huge thank you to everyone who took part and to all our Herm colleagues who came out in the rain to help,’ said Tom. ‘We’re looking forward to doing it all again next year.’
The afternoon raised more than £2,000 for the charity.
By Cheryl Latter
April 10th 2008