Fence Club tees off, raising record £32,000

Report by Malcolm Naish

The 50th anniversary of the Fence Club golf day could not have wished for better weather, and saw more than 60 industry golfers taking part.

It was a fantastic day’s golf for Jacqueline Taylor-Foo; armed with a new driver, Jacky won the Fence Club’s best individual Stableford score with 37 points - and her four-ball team captained by Martin Whitaker playing off 6 and including Michele Bates and new Fence Club member Dawn Lavett led the way with a team score of 113 points.

Jacqueline complimented Martin on his patience in keeping the team fully informed on distances and best club usage – it obviously did the trick! She also won the Ladies’ Longest Drive.

Winner of the best individual score on the day was John White, playing off 13.6, John’s score of 44 points was outstanding.

Longest Drive was won by Craig Kidd.

The total of £32,000 was the biggest amount raised for the golf day and it was fitting that it was the 50th anniversary of the golf day. With Jon Gregory organising the fines, chairman Simon Anslow organising the raffle and Steve Wells most expertly handling the auction, this amazing amount was the result.

Our thanks to all those generous souls for giving the various auction prizes, although as Joe Kissane said “They weren’t really prizes, as people paid for them!’’

For my part, a pathetic round of golf including something of a hang-over saw me winning the Fence Club ‘Don’t give up the day job’ trophy, but thanks to my team of captain Collin Farrow, Paul Reader and James Waddelove for keeping me going. A special word of praise for Paul Reader. His score of 27 was his best score ever and I marked his card. Given that Paul only plays twice a year, his was a great result.

Special thanks should be given to Fence Club Chairman Simon Anslow who headed up the sub-committee for organising a fantastic day.

It’s for the children, and the day proved what a great club the Fence Club is.

Xootz you, officers!

Ride-on expert Wilton Bradley, the home of Xootz and more, has partnered with local police and other authprities in the south west to help cut road deaths and injuries in the region.

The company officially handed over a number of its top-of-the-range BMW X5 and electric motorbike ride-ons specially customised with a new police-style look to help teach road safety to kids.

It has been working with Vision Zero South West, a collaboration across Devon, Cornwall and Somerset that involves Devon & Cornwall police, fire rescue, the NHS and city councils. The organisation attends multiple local events throughout the year, teaching kids and adults about road safety.

Marketing manager Tom Ellyat said: “We’re super pleased to announce that this summer, Xootz has partnered with Vision Zero South West to help them with teaching the importance of road safety across Devon & Cornwall.”

The Toy Association’s ‘Macro to Micro’ Trend Shows How Toymakers are Scaling for Success

The U.S. Toy Association’s 2023 ‘Macro to Micro’ trend highlights how today’s toy makers are playing with the size of their toys and games to make an even bigger impact at market, from jumbo-sized plush to microsized functional collectables.

“This trend is being largely driven by social media, where consumers are finding a whimsical novelty factor to collecting, playing, and displaying toys that are either super-sized or micro,” said Adrienne Appell, executive vice president of marketing communications at The Toy Association. “But in addition to their sheer scale, these toys are also being sought out for unique play elements that adds to their collectability and fun.”

Here is a sampling of new playthings hitting the market that reflect this trend:

Funko Pop! figures have become a staple in the collectable space and this year adds a whole new world to the popular line with Funko Bitty Pop!, which make the pop culture collectables even smaller. Each standing at 1in tall, they are sold as three-packs.

LEGO Disney 100 Years of Disney Animation Icons set allows fans to build up to 12 mini framed portraits of popular Disney characters at a time or link them together to make a larger collage to hang and display.

My First Barbie dolls from Mattel were designed in a larger scale with features that make it easier for preschoolers to explore fashion play, including easy-todress, on-off fashions.

Real Littles Backpacks from Moose Toys are miniature backpacks with collectable surprises hidden inside, such as real-working tiny pencils, teeny highlighters, micro rulers, small stickers, wee notebooks, and more.

Inspired by the #ififitsisits trend on social media in which cats are often photographed sitting inside objects you might not think they’d fit in, Basic Fun!’s line of Misfittens features collectable plush kitty characters that come packaged in small ‘jars’. Pop the jars open to watch the kittens expand into jumbo-sized plush.

More information about all the top trends predicted to drive global toy sales through the holiday season can be found at www.ToyAssociation.org/trends.

To learn about what will be trending in 2024, mark your calendar for Toy Fair this autumn. Taking place from September 30 to October 3, 2023, Toy Fair will showcase hundreds of thousands of innovative and never-before-seen toys and games and bring the global play community back together for business in the heart of New York City. Visit ToyFairNY.com to learn more.