ZAP Grand Quiz Night A fundraiser to remember

A hugely successful Quiz Night was held at the end of January at Sussex Barn, Burnham Market. 190 people took part, and it was great to see so many new faces - including young people from far and wide - as well as ZAP’s stalwart local supporters. We were greatly indebted to the Thompsons for kindly letting us have the Barn – an ideal venue for a very jolly evening in which 24 teams pitted their wits against each other. The winning team, ‘Normal for Norfolk’ just edged ahead by the smallest of margins to take First Prize in what was, admittedly, a pretty tough quiz . Team names and interesting picnic themes were also in the competitive mix; they were very hard to judge as everyone had made fantastic efforts. Narrow winners were the ‘Missing Links’ who just pipped ‘Jewels in the Crown’ – and the best team name went to ‘Timu Ya Kwanza’ – Swahili for Top Team!

The Event was superbly compered by Alec Lochore and Henry Symington, and four enormous plasma TV screens showed films of Zanzibar and ZAP’s work in Jambiani in the intervals. Due to the skills of Quiz Controller, Janet Lane, we were also able to flash up on the screens the results of each section as they happened - which greatly added to the competitive atmosphere!

In place of a raffle, we had the Tree of Hope and Jambiani Supa-Duka lottery – you bought a piece of fruit or a special monkey or parrot and were guaranteed a prize. An amazingly generous response to our request for prizes and donations, as well as advertising space on the Programme meant that at the end of the evening ZAP had raised well over £8,000.

We are tremendously grateful to everyone who contributed to this memorable fund-raising event – generous donors, advertisers, helpers, and of course the participants. The money raised is particularly welcome as we have had to spend unexpectedly large sums on emergency water supplies. Zanzibar is STILL without power at the time of writing – and therefore in Jambiani no safe water, with hundreds of people falling ill as a result. Sustaining current projects in Jambiani is always our priority, but it was impossible to ignore the impassioned pleas for help from the village we know so well, and the proceeds from the Quiz Night have made an enormous difference.

A big THANK YOU to everyone involved.

February 20 2010