The Mermaid Tavern Fun Day, sponsored by the Guernsey Cider Company, was the most successful to date. (0988444)

THIS year’s Mermaid Tavern Fun Day was the most successful yet, with a large amount of money being raised for Help A Guernsey Child.

In association with Island FM – and sponsored by the Guernsey Cider Company – attractions included many bouncy castles and slides, burgers and hot dogs, face painting, raffles, beat the goalie, whack the rat and a basketball hoop challenge.

We missed our usual visit from Island FM’s Richard Harding, but were happy to welcome his successor, Mike Zeller, in his place.

The stalls were manned by Herm volunteers and Sea Cadets from T. S. Sarnia.

Raffle prizes were generously donated by many of our suppliers. Huge thanks go to Alliance Cash and Carry, Aladdin’s Cave and Pheonix Foods, all of which are unceasingly supportive of island events.

A new attraction this year was an archery range provided by Outdoor Guernsey. Located in Common Field, just above Shell Beach, the range is available for group bookings throughout summer.

The fun day has become a regular annual event and draws many visitors to the island, in part thanks to special ticket offers kindly provided by Travel Trident’s Peter Wilcox.

There is no need to wait until next year for more family fun. The Herm primary school fair takes place on Sunday 18 July. With only a small pool of families to use for fund-raising, the cash made at this event carries the school through most of the year, providing money for trips, extra books for home reading and extra toys and teaching resources.

As well as the usual Herm-baked cakes and bread, bouncy castle, face painting, treasure map, tombola and raffle, we also plan a Herm produce and plant stall to be manned by the island gardeners.

Raffle prizes are donated each year by generous Guernsey shops and businesses, and this year we are asking the good people of Guernsey to please donate any unwanted handbags or dressy clothes in good condition for a ‘Handbags and Glad-rags’ stall.