Once again, scouter and Ormskirk and Bootle Group Chairman Graham Chambers, supported by his wife Ann and Crosby Lodge No 3714 members, presented a community Casino Night for all at their scout hut in Crosby to raise funds.
Funds raised on the Casino Night will go towards the £4,000 necessary for the group to send one of its young leaders with the United Kingdom contingent to Madagascar. Scouter Francesca Gaecia will now be sent on a volunteering programme to Madagascar this summer to aid several building and well sinking projects, and will also assist in improving scouting in the area.
The evening began at 7:30 as punters gradually arrived and paid their £5 entrance fee with a further £5 for the purchase of tokens to the value of £500 to be spent at the various tables. Two roulette wheels, a blackjack table and a beat the clock test of speed and acuity were active and happily receiving the punters’ tokens with refreshments prepared by the volunteer scouters.
By nine o’clock, soup and bread rolls were ready, distributed, plates collected and then washed cleared for the punters to resume playing at the tables.
As the evening drew to a close, Graham held an innovative raffle whereby the luckiest three punters could each bid for the first three individual prizes using their token winnings. They were won with bids of 30, 25 and 15 tokens. The remaining 15 prizes which had also been donated for the event by the community and Crosby Lodge were won on the tombola.
The remaining soup, breads and drinks were consumed, with all then contentedly departing following an evening of conviviality, excitement, conversation and fun. Nothing then remained other than a swift tidy up and a weary return home for the organisers and helpers contented that they had raised nearly £1,200 towards their £4,000 target.
