Melbourn Fete aims to bring the village together, to have fun, socialise and raise money for local groups.
Each year the committee organises the day so that local clubs, societies and charities can set up stalls and provide entertainment to help with their fundraising. All proceeds are put back into the community, and over recent years we have donated over £33,000 to local groups and good causes.
In 2024, we donated to 1st Orwell Scout Group, Melbourn Action Community Support (MACS), Melbourn Library, Melbourn Pre-School, Meldreth Foodbank, Mix Music and Royston and District Community Transport.
In 2023, we donated to 1st Orwell Scout Group, All Saints’ Church Bells, Melbourn Action Community Support (MACS), Melbourn Community Library, Melbourn Dynamos and Royston and District Community Transport.
Other recipients of donations include: A Chain of Wild Flowers, All Saints’ Community Hall, Bassingbourn ATC, Melbourn Lunch Club, Melbourn Mobile Warden Scheme, Melbourn Primary School, Home-Start, MVC Ghana Students, Melbourn Youth Club, MVC Summer School, McSplash Swimming Club, Royal British Legion Women’s Section and Meridian Triathlon.
This would not be possible without the generous support of Melbourn Parish Council and our sponsors, as well as the hard work of our volunteers. In addition to planning the Fete, our Committee contributes to and supports other village events, through the loan of equipment and volunteers.
The first Melbourn Fete was held in 1986 and the event ran initially for ten years. It then stopped for five years, restarting again in 2003. Covid prevented us from holding events during lockdown and in the immediate aftermath, but with the addition of new committee members, we relaunched with a Family Fun Day in 2023 and look forward to more events and donations to local groups!
Meet the Committee
A more ragtag bunch you are unlikely to find, but without further ado, the committee… Photos still incoming… You’d think that Guann-Yeu could convince the committee to have their photos taken (being a photographer by trade), but he’s the most powerless of the committee <cue tiny violins>.
Chairperson
ANNA
Anna has finally worked her way through committee roles and is now our harried, harassed and overworked Chair. She will get churros at the Fete, however, so she is somewhat mollified…
Secretary
DINTA
Dinta joins us with much experience of organising events across the border in Royston, and works with Aisha as part of our Stalls Team. She’s sticking with us even after having attended committee meetings!
Treasurer
CHRIS
When not keeping us in the black and ensuring that we can continue to donate to good causes, Chris can often be seen out on his bike, avoiding the potholes.
His favourite film quote is: “Show me the money!”
Motors and Signage
DAVID
David is in charge of making sure our visitors are pointed in the right direction. Between him and former-committee member Richard, they also organise our vintage vehicle displays.
Raffle Elf
PAULA
Principal organiser of our raffles, Paula likes to break out her elf outfit whenever possible.
Stalls
AISHA
Not strong-armed into joining the committee by previous Chair Gillian because they’re neighbours or anything, Aisha heads our Stalls Team, though that means being stuck behind her computer even more than usual.
Arena Attractions
JOHN
One half of our Arena team, John used to work for the BBC and brings his considerable expertise to the Fete. John and his wife Jan come to us from a distant village called ‘Harston’.
Arena Attractions
JAN
The other half of our Arena team (and the true power behind the throne), Jan keeps John on the straight and narrow and lends her considerable event expertise to the committee.
Site Services
ANDY
Andy heads the Site Services team and he’s the man with the radios, the electrical cables and the generators. When not managing the site, he can be found in the skies with the CLAP (ask him!).
Site Services
IAN
Coming from across the border in <shudder> Royston </shudder>, but now living in Melbourn, Ian has brought expertise and contacts from his time with the Royston Round Table and has quickly become an invaluable member of the committee, taking on Site Services along with…
Site Services
TERRY
A regular volunteer in the community, Terry is the penultimate member of our site services quartet. He will be well-known to Melbournites as a Parish Warden and for being an all-round nice chap.
Site Services
DEBI
Rounding off the Site Services team is Debi, who will be well known to users of The Hub. She keeps Andy in line by not putting up with any of his nonsense (of which there is much). Thanks, Debi!
Publicity and Social Media
LUCY
Sister to Amelia and daughter of Paula, Lucy is the most recent family addition to the committee. She heads up our publicity initiatives and being Gen Z handles Tikbook and Instafaceapp for us.
<Assign Committee Role Here>
JOHN
Welkom bij John, who will be joining the committee proper when his move from The Netherlands is completed. Despite only being able to join meetings via Teams, he has already demonstrated wonderful community spirit, and we look forward to working with him in person!
General Factotum
GUANN-YEU
How do you pronounce that? Exactly. Guann-Yeu spends 75% of his life helping people pronounce his name. Our official photographer, he is also our IT gopher, maintaining our website and email system, as well as running some of the competitions at the Fete. He’s also the person to blame if the weather is bad on the day. He doesn’t get any credit if the weather is good, so he’s in a lose-lose situation.
Join us!
Congratulations on reaching the bottom of the page. Having shown enough interest to get here, you’re clearly the type of person who would make a difference to Melbourn Fete, so why not join us? It doesn’t have to be a committee role, but you never know…
For more information on how you can be involved, whether on the committee or as a volunteer, please get in touch!
