The build up to Mill Road Winter Fair has now started with a hat-making workshop that took place on 14 November in preparation for the HATS! competition to be held during the fair. The workshop was run by Abigail Crampton, a local milliner, and Romsey Mill provided an ideal venue. The enthusiastic participants included Jacqui Fuller and Carole Pook, looking for ideas for the Swavesey Festival next June, and art therapist Anna Kendrew and assistant Amy 
Spencer from Rowan Humberstone. Participants produced some stunning creations but the HATS! competition during the Winter Fair on Saturday 5th December is open to anyone wearing a hat, bought or homemade. Hatwearers are invited to come along to Romsey Mill or Bharat Bhavan between 11 a.m. and 3 pm to be photographed in their headgear. Individual prizes in the categories pre-school, primary, secondary and adult – male and female in each category - are sponsored by John Lewis. There are also prizes for the winners’ schools or group to support recycling projects sponsored by Donarbon Waste Management.
A month to go! Get a sneak preview of all the exciting events taking place at the Fair on December 5th.
Just click here…
http://www.mill-road.com/winterfair_timetable.aspx 
Everyone is welcome on the 5th Plinth
One of the most interesting and widely talked about arts projects of recent years finished on 14th October. The ‘One and Other’ project, brainchild of Anthony Gormley, invited members of the public to do … whatever they wanted … on the ’4th Plinth’ in Trafalgar Square, London. 2400 people took up the opportunity to perform, tell people about their causes, demand justice, have fun, get naked, put on clothes … and so on between July and October this year. Now, the Mill Road Winter Fair is offering people the opportunity to do something similar on a 5th Plinth! On Saturday 5th December 2009, a ‘5th Plinth’ will appear in Ditchburn Gardens, Mill Road, Cambridge. Organised by Cambridge artist Alex Davis, it will be an opportunity for the local community to do something interesting for a few minutes between 12 noon and 4pm. Alex Davis says:
‘As a participant myself of the ‘One and Other’ project, I was asked to organise and create a ‘5th plinth’ for the Mill Road Winter Fair. With a similar incentive, I want to collect together a wide range of people to represent the diversity of residents from in and around Mill Road. Instead of an hour, participants will have their 30 minutes of fame on the plinth to do, say and present whatever they want (as long as it is legal!).’
Did you miss out on 4th Plinth? Have you got something to say or do? Or would you like to be a much needed volunteer? This is your opportunity.
If so, please email Alexandra Davis at: Millroadwinterfair5thplinth@hotmail.co.uk and book your space.
What do you do if you have a huge photo archive and you’re a sucker for new technologies? You open a Flickr 
account, of course!
So, here is our brand new Flickr profile: www.flickr.com/photos/mrwf09. You might want to start sending us your photos too: just email us at mrwf-fundraising@mill-road.com to share your Mill Road images on the Mill Road Winter Fair photostream.
Happy tagging!
Would you like to help? Then scroll down – we might just have the perfect volunteer job for you.
- Donation boxes – distribute boxes in the shops in Mill Road and regularly empty and replace them.
- Both Romsey and Petersfield Coordinators will need help in promoting the fair to the traders in their areas and to encourage them to advertise in the programme.
- PR – distribute postcards and programmes to various venues and events throughout the year and build lists of prospects.
- Programme – proof artwork and content before production.
- Safety – become a steward. The heath and safety of people attending the fair is paramount, and stewards have a very important role on the day. To be trained in the role, contact email mrwf-safety@mill-road.com.
- Stalls – help set up the stalls in the marquees, direct stall-holders to their allocated place and give general assistance.
- Refreshments – help with refreshments on the day.
- Infrastructure – co-ordinate the buskers’ performances, working with Alison, as programme coordinator, to make sure performances are well-timed.
If you would like to help, please contact the Volunteers Coordinator (margaretstarkie@yahoo.co.uk) to be put in touch with one of the organizers. Thank you!
With the fair planning in full swing, this is what we’ve been up to in the past few weeks.
Anne has contacted Salisbury Club for stalls, Romsey Mill for Children’s Activities, the Labour Club as the main music venue and talking to Daisy Zoll and Eryl Griffiths about Photographic and Hat Competitions. Suzy had initial talks with Petersfield traders about their involvement and is looking at how to make the proposed Food Fair a reality.
Suzy and David have discussed the possibility of festive lighting with some providers and funding companies. As the cost will be considerable and the project will be will be a major undertaking, it was suggested that traders might sponsor individual sets. Abdul has offered to talk to them about this.
Jonathan and Clare have been liaising with Cambridgeshire County Council about possible options for traffic management of Mill Road on the day of the winter fair. Discussions are ongoing on costing and logistics.
David has updated the budget based on some of these discussions and on Kath’s fundraising report, including sponsorship and advertising income.
If you’d like to get in touch, find our email addresses in the About page of this blog or leave a comment below.
First things first: Mill Road Winter Fair this year will be on 5th December – that’s about 4,815 hours (4,814 as I write) to go.
While many of you will undoubtedly know what I am talking about, some of you who are new to the area – or indeed to the fair – will probably be asking: what is Mill Road Winter Fair? Who are you guys? And what is this all about?
So, here we are: welcome to the 2009 Mill Road Winter Fair micro-website. Here you will find answers to (most of) your questions, plus news on Mill Road and updates on the development of this year’s fair. The main posts and updates will be posted in this section as they come along, so make sure you check this space regularly. In the right-hand side column you can find links to the other pages of this website:
- About us, where you can find out more about the fair and this year’s committee
- Share your Mill Road stories, where you can share with other people what Mill Road means to you and see your thoughts published
- Get involved, if you’d like to volunteer and help us out
- Sign up, if you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter full of juicy news and updates
- Become a Friend, where you can support the fair by giving us a donation
- Sponsors, where you can learn more about our… sponsors!
And if you like you can also follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=49349489896&ref=ts.
I’ll be posting some more in the next days; goodbye for now and feel free to leave a comment below – we’d love to hear from you!
