The  fifth annual Steam Rally was a great success and raised £20,000 for the Hospice of St Francis.

No need to book – just turn up

Sunday 25^th March 2012

Green Croft Farm, Potten End
Hemel Hempstead, HP1 2SG

Sellers from 7.30am: Vehicles up to 7.5 ton £15 / HGV’s £30
Buyers from 9am @  £2 per person

Refreshments available on site

For further information, click here

Hertfordshire Life: Steam Rally Success in Potten End

The fifth annual Steam Rally for the Hospice of St Francis was held in Potten End this weekend with the sunshine and warm weather drawing record-breaking crowds…
Read the full article on their website »

Thank you for coming along to the fifth Dacorum Steam and Country Fayre in aid of The Hospice of St Francis. It promises to be a fantastic weekend with so many things to see and do.

By coming along and supporting this fun-filled event, you are playing a special part in ensuring that St Francis will be there for those that might need us one day. Illness takes us by surprise. Many of you that are attending this event may have had a connection with St Francis and care about the work of the Hospice – special, unique and dignified care that must continue for our community.

The money raised over this weekend is ensuring that we can continue our essential service for the patients and families who depend on us. In the last year, we have cared for over 700 patients in our Inpatient Unit, Day Hospice, or at home, as well as supporting 650 family members and friends through difficult times.

All our care is free, we need over £4million to run our services each year and we rely on support of the local community and groups, like Dacorum Steam & Machinery Preservation Society, for over 80% of our funding. Simply, we could not do it without you.

Over the past 4 years, this event has raised over £37,000 and we would like to thank Dacorum Steam & Machinery Preservation Society and their families and friends for all their hard work in organising what is a truly spectacular and enjoyable event for the entire family.

Enjoy!

Harriet Karia
Community Fundraising Manager – Hospice of St Francis

This will be the fifth annual Steam Rally to be held in Potten End and with each year the event grows bigger and better.

Once again there will be lots for all the family to enjoy – the fun starts with a tractor-trailer ride from the car park into the showground where you will find plenty to entertain all of the family.

There will be two parade rings. Our very own commentator Phil Stonelake will be with us again this year bringing his own special brand of humour to the show rings which will have events taking place all through the day ranging from vintage tractors trying to balance on a metal see-saw, demonstrations of archery through the ages, enjoy seeing the power and beauty of the heavy horses, the majestic steam engines will be parading and entertaining, superbly restored vintage cars, commercial lorries and military vehicles showing their strength, vintage motor bikes showing us how they used to be. Weather permitting we might be lucky enough to have a demonstration on how a hot air balloon is inflated and then deflated but even more appealing to the younger people will be the donkey rides…

There will be some very useful demonstrations by the fire brigade and much much more. Roslyn Walker the famous escapologist will be joining us again this year and is going to amaze us with his twice daily performance and he has promised to show us a death defying escape, fingers crossed for him.

We will be able to enjoy Harvey the Clown entertaining the children as he walks around the showground.

Bring the family to wander through the varied market stalls, look at the many stationary engines on display, stroll through the vintage vehicles and chat to the owners, among the many vintage tractors there will be two collections worth inspection – one being an International collection owned by David Simmons, and the other being a Ford Pre-force collection including a triple doe owned by Dick Trott, there is a lot of good humoured competition between these ‘red’ and ‘blue’ tractor chaps that entertain all around them. There will be the chance to inspect some tractors that are quite rare and not often seen. You can sit and watch the ring events while listening to the live Jazz Band playing on Saturday afternoon while enjoying some ringside refreshments, especially a cup of tea and slice of cake baked by Chris Took, Catering Manager at the Hospice, Chris is very proud of his catering team and they all do an excellent job, he is a well deserving winner in the 2009 ‘Peoples Award for Dignity in Care’.

We look forward to seeing you all and together we can beat last year’s donation of £12,000 to our Hospice of St Francis.

Dacorum Machinery and Steam Group host vintage tractor fair at Wayside Farm Kings Langley for Hospice of St Francis.

Visitors to a farm in Kings Langley were left enthralled by the sight of vintage tractors all colours and sizes, as part of an event organised to raise money for charity.

Read more on the Watford Observer website

View our video from 2010

Published in Tractor & Machinery 2009: For the third year running the Dacorum Machinery and Steam Preservation Group in Hertfordshire held its annual rally in aid of the Hospice of St Francis.

Highlights for visitors included trailer rides into the showground, displays of vintage tractors, helicopter rides and heavy horses.

Many of the club’s lady members slaved over hot stoves to make cakes for the event which sold like, well, hot cakes and the club believes a good time was had by all.

As a result, a cheque for £9,000 was presented to Alison Briant, Director of Clinical Governance at the hospice by club representatives.

Thirsty work being on a road run!  View our photos from 2009

18 September 2008 By Victoria West

Fundraisers chose a less conventional mode of transport to travel to the Hospice of St Francis. Members of the Dacorum Machinery and Steam Preservation Group arrived aboard a tractor and in a campervan to hand over £6,000.

Chairman Martin Ginger said: “The money was raised during the last weekend in July at the Dacorum Steam County Fair in Potten End. We hold the steam rally every year in aid of the hospice. The charity provides superb care to people with life limiting illnesses across North West Herts and the Chiltern area of Bucks.

It is not yet know exactly what the money will be spent on but £6,000 is enough to pay for six weeks of nursing care for a patient staying in the hospice.

Community fundraising manager Harriet Karia said: “This is the second year that this group has done this event. They’re just amazing, they do it all in their own time.

“Without groups like them, we wouldn’t be able to raise the money we need to runthis service.”