Wardle Scarecrow Festival raises £450 for Jolly Josh

Date published: 13 October 2022

The fourth annual Wardle Scarecrow Festival took place this October, raising £450 for this year's chosen charity Jolly Josh.

"Each year we choose a local charity to fundraise for, and this year we, with the help of our Facebook followers, we chose Jolly Josh" said Rebecca Hilton, owner of local business Craft Cottage, and event organiser. 

Jolly Josh is a local charity based in Rochdale that provides dedicated peer support and safe spaces for children and young adults, families, and carers of children with profound multiple learning disabilities, complex, and special needs. 

Jolly Josh was set up by devoted mum Carole in September 2017, exactly one month after her son Joshua James passed away at just 15 months old.

In the lead-up to the event, young people in Wardle worked with local social enterprise, Artful Make it Happen and Wardle's very own Craft Cottage, to create street decorations which have been displayed across the village. 

After the event, visitors took to the Wardle Scarecrow Festival Facebook page to vote for their favourite scarecrows. The winner with 423 votes, took the locals on a trip down memory lane.

R&G Kershaw was a newsagents in Wardle village for 20 years from 1979-1999. Many villagers have fond memories of the shop and remember it well. This month Rod and Glenys celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary, so to commemorate the occasion, their granddaughter Lucy turned them into scarecrows.

In second place was the fabulous "King Louie" scarecrow, who you might recognise from Jungle Book.

Visitors came from all over the North West to see the Scarecrows, however this year there were less than half the amount of scarecrows entered, compared to previous years.

Rebecca added: "We would hate for this event to end, so we are calling up the people of Wardle to help keep the event alive by making a scarecrow next year! It's free to enter, you could get together with friends or family to make a joint effort! It's lots of fun and all for a good cause."

For more information you can visit Wardle Scarecrow Festival on Facebook and Instagram or the website www.Wardlescarecrowfestival.yolasite.com