Accounts (illustrated!)

 If you were at the Jubilee big lunch with us, you remember that Paddy circulated with a bucket to make a money collection.

First things first: sorry we didn't clearly put a sign board announcing there would be one, we ran out of time on the Sunday morning. And then I completely forgot about it, until Paddy turned up with the bucket. We did mention on the blog that we would ask people to chip in to help pay for the insurance, mostly, but it is very possible that not everyone saw that bit of information.

Linda and I didn't want to issue tickets or ask for "entrance" fee: to be honest, we both preferred taking it out of pockets and losing a bit rather than making some people (particularly those on a tight budget) miss the party because of money issues.

All in all, it worked out rather well; here are the costs: (if you are a purist of accountancy, run away now, because I'm not! Or rather... stay, you may find this wonky order/presentation entertaining)

- insurance  for the day: £51.
Arranged by Linda with Event Insurance Services Ltd.
It may not seem necessary to take a specific insurance, but considering that one car (the naughty blue megane) didn't budge from the road and therefore risked being scratched, and that things were wet and slippery because of the weather, we are glad we did. 

 - bunting: all borrowed from (or donated by) many participants, except £40 worth (We had to buy £80 worth on the last Saturday, as 2/3 of the road had been decorated, leaving 1/3 looking  sad and left out. So I went to Bits and Bobs and bought a big batch. it. But I bought back half for a private party in July). We used every inch, by the way.
 - wooden posts for holding the bunting: (£20? I need to double check with Linda).
- balloons and other decoration: all donated by the participants... and inflated by the participants.

 - face paint, skill and material: donated by Sharon, Laura and Sarah. I cropped the picture of the children so that they can't be recognised, but there are a few great photos, and  the art work was fantastic.

- sound system: borrowed. No cost.
- 10 gazebos & marquees: all borrowed and provided by the participants. No cost.
- sign post for road closure : recycled (mostly from Ikea sheves) : no cost.
- paint : donated

- traffic and parking cones: borrowed, no cost.
- website : the blog address is free. All the design and info was done by us: no cost. Electricity donated, of course.
- ink and paper, laminating pouches : donated by Linda and me, simply because we have no idea how much we spent! It can't be more than £10-15 for each of us. We did all the design, printing, ourselves and sometimes with the help of partner, children or friends.

- food and drink : no cost to us organisers, since all participants brought their own.

- set up and cleaning up: no cost, we all did it together.
- all the expertise: (design, carpentry, electricity, photography, etc) : all within the neighbourhood: no cost.
- damage : 1 green plastic chair worth maybe £5 or 6, already forgotten.



- leaflets expedition costs, posters placing : 3 pounds, but not sterling: me and Linda benefited the walking!

- the blue T-shirts: the under 18 were offered the T-shirts for helping out on the day  (courtesy of Linda and myself). The grownups each paid for theirs. The cost of making each T-shirt was: £2.80 + £1 transfer paper, therefore £3.80 a piece. And that's not including a lot of cursing in French (completely for free), during the bit of the process when you have to peel the  transfer paper from the protective film. Worth it in the end, but boy don't try it if you have just quit smoking. I quit a year and a half ago, and I had sudden cravings! Anyway, all paid and accounted for before the party started.

On the day of the party, Paddy collected £94. The costs we come up with are: give or take £130/ 150 (I will update that when I get the exact wooden posts costs).We almost break even. Whatever extra was going to be given to the school (to say thank you for letting us borrow traffic cones and use their car park).
But what is most important here is: we had a big 7 hours long party with about 120 people coming throughout the afternoon, with music, nice food, drink, shelter, lovely decorations and colours, for less than £150! Which also means that if we want to do it again, it would only cost roughly £1 per person, thanks to the fact we can pool pretty good solid equipment between us, borrow, paint, recycle, share, etc. That is very good news: money is not going to be a problem. And given the amounts of plastic chairs, tarpaulin and gazebos we have, neither is the weather. The only thing we'll have to do is not to close the road too often...So, let's party again soon wherever we can!

Lastly: I would like to wave the £40 worth of bunting left on the cost column on the basis that I had such a good time working with Linda and the other people involved, then got in such high spirits on the day (and still feel it now) that I probably saved a few hundred quid worth of future therapy!
So there, we broke even. Next time, everyone knows in advance that they'll chip in one or two pounds, and we'll be fine.