An Afternoon with Jill Halfpenny
Sunday 8 October 20006

Jill Halfpenny, TV and stage star and winner of 'Strictly Come Dancing', spent the afternoon with Tyne & Wear Branch.

The event was a coffee and sales afternoon at St Joseph’s Church Hall in the centre of Gateshead.

Jill Halfpenny

The perfect celebrity guest, Jill posed for innumerable photographs, signed hundreds of autographs, took an interest in everything and spent ages just chatting with people generally. All done with a dazzling smile, genuine friendliness and unspoiled charm.

Jill is of course a local girl and has family and friends on Tyneside. Her name on the posters made the event a big draw.

The tombola stall was kept busy the whole while and business was brisk on the cakes, raffle and bric-a-brac tables.

Jill drawing the raffle

Face-painting was an attraction for the children and nail-painting drew a surprising number of mature customers as well as younger ones. But the biggest congregation of people was in the sit-down refreshment area, where Jill held court with her fans.

Background music in the Palm Court style was provided by four talented young musicians - the Gateshead String Quartet: Elaine Binney, Jordan Bowron, Jenny Beadle and Georgie Smith.

The Gateshead String Quartet

Overall the afternoon was a great success, both socially and in fundraising.

Thanks

Very special thanks go to Jill Halfpenny for taking the time to be with us and for being such a wonderful person.

Sincere thanks too to the many others who made the afternoon possible and memorable.

They include Ann Docherty and her friends and family who were the mainstay of the organisation, the Gateshead String Quartet, the many local traders who provided valuable prizes for the raffle and tombola and, not least, the Trustees of the St Joseph's Church Hall for their generous help and understanding.