Great week to celebrate our 4th anniversary

The 4th anniversary of the opening of the Open DAW (Dawlish CommunityInformation  Centre) was held on Monday June 8th. In addition to our Mayor (Geoff Wills), who cut the special birthday cake, there were 7 agency representatives who received several enquiries during the day. Around 100 pople attended and we received £116 in donations.

One disappointment was that Piper Bill Millin was unable to attend following his visit to the 65th anniversary celebrations of the Normandy Landings. We are thrilled to hear that a life size statue in bronze,  with pipes and kilt, is to be erected in his honour in Normandy. He was presented with a Citizen of Honour award and a pipe tune had been written in his name. On top of that, a golf course has named the 18th hole - Piper Bill Millin. He is a famous veteran, now 86 and in a wheelchair, and loved in France and Dawlish.

To complete a fabulous week ,we held a Morning Market on the Dawlish Lawn next to the brook with the Black Swans. It was a lovely morning,  the sun shining, with lots of locals and visitors around enjoying the refreshmnts. There were stalls for books, plants, cakes, Fairtrade products, Information, raffle and Tombola. At the end of the day we received £320 – so all in all a great week for the Open DAW.

Open Day

Mayor Geoff Wills cuts cake on 4th anniversary of Open DAW

Had a great day for our 4th anniversary of opening our Community Information Centre. What a difference from that day to today. When we started we had  just 2 people coming through the door. Now we see 40-50 on most days. Nearly all are 50+ but that’s not surprising in a town such as Dawlish and younger people are at work (if they are able to find it!!).

This morning we had around 100 people who were able to drop in and talk with a variety of agency reps. These included a solicitor, Wills and funerals advisor and reps from Age Concern, Convalescent home, Retirement home and a community centre.

There was a special birthday cake cut by our Mayor, refreshments, cakes, toasted teacakes, crumpets, and snacks such as Bacon and Egg baps .

We received several donations and the Agency reps were well pleased with the enquiries made from the public. Our only disappointment was that our famous piper – Bill Millin had not returned from the D-Day celebrations in Normandy, so couldn’t cut the cake with the Mayor.

On Thursday we are holding a Morning Market on the Lawn in Dawlish and the weather is set fair for the day. Hope we get a good crowd around the stalls and refreshments.