Expo a huge success!               

The Marlborough Parents Centre Parent and Child Expo ‘09 was a huge success, exceeding all expectations. Over 1,000 people visited the Expo on 14^th June 2009 and the full capacity of 50 exhibitors was an absolute bonus. Best of all the Expo has fundraised a fantastic sum, allowing the Marlborough Parents Centre to get on with the job of supporting parents and their children in Marlborough! It is unlikely that we will need to call on you all during 2009/10 to help us out at cake stalls and sausage sizzles! Congratulations to all the team and helpers involved (there were so many of you), and of course to our sponsors and those local businesses who provided support. We could not have delivered such a successful outcome without your help!

Some of the highlights of the Expo were:

· The free entertainment for children (Bouncy Castle, Katrina Oliver Story Teller, Pom Pom the Clown, all the freebies, the Fran Andrews/Sport Marlborough babies tent)

· The café and foyer area which gave Dads an ‘out’ and a place to hang out (but next year we will think about how we can do something to keep the Dads even happier!!)

· The huge range of exhibitors – many from out of town

· The constant crowds at the Expo and the buzz that this created

· The fantastic support that we got from our sponsors and local businesses

· The warm, clean and professional venue

· The three raffles chockablock full of fantastic goodies donated by our exhibitors

· And lastly, but certainly not least – the generosity and support of our members and the general public.

What to look out for at 2010’s Expo

· Something for the Dads!

· More great variety in the exhibitors

· Loads more give-aways and free entertainment

· The same quality and professionalism that you all loved about this year’s Expo

· More surprises!

But of course we couldn’t have done it without our sponsors:

Major Sponsors

Blenheim New World

Mark Stevenson First National Real Estate

Supporting Sponsors

Reidie Cycles

Baby on the Move

The Blenheim Sun Newspaper

MORE FM

Bowater Hyundai, Nelson

And thank you also to the following companies for their support:

The National Bank of New Zealand

The Marlborough Convention Centre/MDC

The MGC Senior Shakespeare Class

Super Kids Trust

Hirepool

DressUps

Blenheim Print

Alex Lloyd – Lloyd Graphics

The Nanny Company

Ann Duncan

Boc Gas

Congratulations to our raffle winners. The three raffles were drawn at 4pm on Sunday 14^th June with the help of Rebecca from Marlborough Convention Centre and Josh from MORE FM. The three winners are:

The Buggy raffle kindly donated by Porse was won by ticket number 441 – Crystal Beal

The Active baby raffle with items donated by a number of exhibitors was won by ticket number 184 – Mrs Doyle

The Gorgeous baby raffle with items also donated by a number of exhibitors was won by ticket number 207 – Gemma Riley

If you have any feedback about this year’s expo, or anything that you would like to see at next year’s event please email andrea@outsourcethis.co.nz. We’d love to hear your thoughts!