By The Open Arms Team
On Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th September 2025, the Open Arms Team along with other Rotherfed staff attended the Rotherham Show. All staff from Rotherfed attended on a rota basis to showcase the services that Rotherfed provide to the community of Rotherham. The weather was good, and the event was well attended. We saw a constant flow of people from the community attend at our stall where they were given valuable information about the work we do. We were also assisted by volunteers and some of our trustees whose help was greatly appreciated. We handed out leaflets, trolley key chains, pens, stickers, flower necklaces, sweets and blew up animal headbands for the children. It became clear that our stall was gaining a reputation by the fact that we were receiving requests from children wanting an animal headband which was their favourite and someone saying that they had seen other children wearing them and made it one of their missions to search the stall out giving the headbands. We also saw some happy faces when the parents of the children learned that as the headbands were free, as some things at the show were quite expensive.
Whilst visiting our stall, as well as providing information about the Open Arms Sessions, the people were also invited to enter a free competition by guessing the price of the hamper.
It was a very busy two days, and we spoke to loads of people and had over 400 entries to the competition. Some participants took it very seriously and counted the items within the hamper and even considered the items carefully and made a calculated guess. It certainly did seem that the activity gave people something to think about and was fun and entertaining and we heard lots of laughter and did make the day an enjoyable experience. One participant who guessed the lowest amount guessed £14.00 and the participant who guessed the highest price was £367.00. The correct price of the hamper was £47.81.
After checking the entries, the winner nearest to the correct guess was only 6p out! The winner kindly asked that the hamper be donated to a foodbank, and in accordance with their wishes, this was delivered to the Social Supermarket at Rotherham Minster and will make such a difference to their members.
