The Grand Finale!

Baby's First Christmas Party is nearly at an end for 2008/09!

The raffle is being drawn this Saturday (24th Jan) at 3pm in Letchworth Shopping Centre. Join us there and see if you've won a prize! We will be opposite Giles Sports, just by Leys Square (round the corner from Surfin Cafe) - this time we'll try not to confuse you by moving at the last minute!

We would love to see you and it would be great to have a little crowd to watch the raffle being drawn - we are lucky to have Sami Colvin, owner of La Concha, there to draw the winning tickets over the loudspeaker.

Christmas decorations - well done!

Thank you to all of you who contributed Christmas tree decorations for the MamaBabyBliss "My First Christmas" Christmas tree. We managed to make an amazing 50 decorations in just three days - and have been rewarded by a fantastic £50 donation from MamaBabyBliss. If you'd like to see all our decorations in situ - head to the Christmas Tree Festival at Holy Saviour Church in Hitchin. Its on 12-6pm this Saturday and Sunday (13th and 14th December) - see the poster on the right and visit their website for more information.

£1 for every Christmas decoration we make... (but hurry!)

Fancy adding your personal touch to a "My First Christmas" tree at the Hitchin Christmas Tree Festival? MamaBabyBliss, who are sponsoring the tree, will donate £1 to us for every decoration we make.

We have to hurry though! The festival is this weekend and they need decorations by this Wednesday (10th). Yes, I know its short notice!! But the decorations don't need to be anything complicated - photo of your baby attached to a card and ribbon, a little cut-out picture, or anything you fancy. I've attached a photo with some ideas of decorations they already have - but yours doesn't have to be the same.

You can drop in your decorations direct to MamaBabyBliss, 14 The Chilterns. Hitchin, SG4 9PP (just pop them in an envelope and post through the letterbox) or post them. Make sure you say you heard about it through Baby's First Christmas Party so they know to give us the £1.

Alternatively, you can drop them in to one of us in Letchworth, Baldock or Arlesey and we will take them to MamaBabyBliss for you. Email me at info@babysfirstchristmasparty.org for the relevant address near you.

I know there isn't much time, but hope you can still help. If you are having a mums' meet up in the next couple of days (or your christmas party) why not make a load of decorations together?

Join us in the New Year for a Grown-ups Party!

Enough about parties for babies and children - we big people deserve something for ourselves! Now we have it -

Baby's First Christmas Party presents... A Post Christmas Party for Grown-ups!

There’ll be delicious tapas, live music and great company. It’s on Sunday 18th January, at La Concha wine and tapas bar in Letchworth. There’ll also be a charity auction, with some great lots.

Come along—meet some of the people involved in Baby’s First Christmas Party, and bring your friends. That’s what we’re all doing, so there’ll be a great atmosphere—plus it’s all in a very good cause.

Tickets are £10, to include a tapas buffet. Get yours by dropping us a line at info@babysfirstchristmasparty.org, phoning Fay McLean on 07974 665334, or popping into La Concha. We look forward to seeing you there!

£2,500 donation!!

We have just been donated £2,500 by the John Laing Charitable Trust!

This is simply fantastic, and means that, with the online donations so far, we have raised over £3,000 - and all our parties are still yet to happen! Just think how much we might raise altogether. I reckon £5,000 is now within our reach, and I would dearly love to make it to £10,000. It's very ambitious, I know, but wouldn't it be amazing?

Many many thanks to Mick Hamilton for winning us this brilliant boost.

Double your money - a brilliant idea to do just that!

A great new idea for your party: will your (or your partner's) employer "match fund" any money you raise? Many businesses, particularly large ones, will double any money you raise for a charitable cause (usually up to a certain limit). Make sure you check - and you could raise twice as much from your party as you thought! Thanks to Pat Hamilton for this one. Let us know if you've got any more brilliant ideas to boost the funds we raise.

PS Even if you are on maternity leave, you should be eligible, so don't forget to check.

We're in the papers!

Ok, it is the local paper. But it's a good start! Take a look at http://www.thecomet.net/content/comet/news/story.aspx?brand=CMTOnline&category=News&tBrand=HertsCambsOnline&tCategory=newslatestCMT&itemid=WEED06%20Nov%202008%2011%3A14%3A50%3A240 for the full story.