Spider-Man, The Minions and a gangster granny were in Luton – as a fundraising Scarecrow Festival raised almost £2,000 for Keech Hospice Care.
The second S.T.R.A.W Scarecrow Festival took place over the bank holiday weekend, with homes around Stopsley, Putteridge, Round Green and Wigmore getting involved.
Almost 60 scarecrows and crocheted postbox scarecrow designs were unveiled over the long weekend.
Other highlights included Pingu, Shrek, Minecraft, Paddington, and even local Commonwealth medallist diver, Amy Rollinson. Tom Crows and Bearis Johnson (geddit?) made an appearance and Rhiannon, a Neonatal Sister for seven years at the L&D, made a scarecrow of herself.
Vicar David Alexander, St Thomas’ Parish Church, even posed with a scarecrow on his latest live feed from the church.
First prize was awarded to two houses who had got together to remember and celebrate the life of Ian Fensome who sadly died before the festivals started. He had tirelessly raised funds for Keech – so the family raise funds whenever they can.
Raffles, tombolas, a visit from Luton’s Deadpool, and games helped them raise raised over £1,000 for Keech.
The rest of the festival encouraged donations to Keech and the Luton & Dunstable Hospital Neonatal Unit and the current level of donations (with some still coming in) is £1,941!
Rachel Weatherhead, festival organiser along with Mark Chapman, Elaine and Jon said: “One in seven babies born at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital need neonatal care. This wonderful team always needs help to make parents lives easier whilst their little ones grow stronger. My boy Jack spent 10 weeks in Neonatal care back in 2016 due to being born 3 months early. The staff there were amazing but the facilities always need improving for both babies and parents.”
“This has been a huge amount of fun but we were really moved to get a message of thanks from a family (with huge medical issues right now) who had gone out in the car to look round. They said how much it had meant to them to be doing something together that wasn’t a hospital appointment.”
Visit www.strawscarecrow.com if you’d like to get in touch or to donate.
1. Scarecrow Festival
First prize was awarded to two houses who had got together to remember and celebrate the life of Ian Fensome Photo: SI
3. Scarecrow Festival
Rhiannon, a Neonatal Sister for 7 years at the L&D, made a scarecrow of herself. Photo: SI
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Almost 60 scarecrows and crocheted postbox scarecrow designs were unveiled Photo: Scarecrow festival