RVT / GMFA Sports Day
Sports day 2008
Now into its second year after being revived in 2007, Sports Day 2008 took place on Monday August 25th in Spring Gardens, Vauxhall. This year over £4,000 was raised and split between GMFA, Vauxhall City Farm and the Friends of Spring Gardens.
If you weren't able to be there then here's a taste of what you missed:
GMFA’s Sports Day 2008 Press Release
Sodomites triumph at GMFA / RVT Sports Day
At roughly the same time as the triumphant 2008 British Olympic team was touching down at Heathrow, some other highly trained (albeit, more flamboyantly dressed) athletes at the RVT & GMFA Sports Day kept sport, admittedly not of an Olympian standard, firmly on the agenda. Few other sporting events see Bears facing off against Fairies, or Trashbags challenging admirers of Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq. The Bank Holiday Monday Gay Sports Day, which culminated in sporting triumph for a team of Sodomites, was back on in Spring Gardens, behind the Royal Vauxhall Tavern; bigger and better than ever before.
At first the clouds threatened but an enthusiastic crowd of around 500 gay men and friends arrived to enjoy the spectacle and, with the rain holding off and glorious sunshine arriving by the end of the day, the event was pronounced a 'fabulous' success.
The Sports Day, hosted for a second year by Timberlina, began with an official opening by Angie Meader, Mayor of Lambeth, who threw a golden handbag into the crowd to get the afternoon underway. Twelve exotically monikered teams of gay men, lesbians, bears, fairies and friends competed in the hope of lifting the prestigious Sports Day cup.
The sporting competition was closely fought. The events once again included a mixture of traditional school sports day events, such as egg and spoon and sack races, alongside more esoteric sports, such as the drag relay and the 50m mince, which required contestants to wear 'ankle cuffs' and keep one hand on their hips. A very tight competition saw the Sodomites finally see off the challenge from the London Raiders softball team in the final event.
Congratulations to all of the teams involved for their sports-personship, and a special mention to the 'wooden spooners' from the Fantastic Fairies and Trashbags for so gallantly achieving 'nul points' by the end of the day. A huge thank you to the RVT for supporting us, to the GMFA volunteers who worked so hard on the day and to the crowds that braved the grey skies, cheered the teams and donated money.
For the second year in a row, Sports Day was a fundraising event for GMFA, Vauxhall City Farm and the Friends of Spring Gardens. The Mighty Metamorphic Zebras collected the trophy and certificates for the team that raised the most money overall with a total of nearly £1,000. Altogether more than £4,000 was raised to be split between the three charities, three times as much money as was raised at last year's event.
Sports Day was made possible through months of preparation and hard work by GMFA and the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, and with the support of Spring Gardens, Lambeth Council and the Metropolitan Police.
Register your interest in Sports Day 2009
Sports Day will be back again in 2009 and registration for teams will open a couple of months before the event. In the meantime, if you are interested in entering a team into next year's Sports Day please email tim.molloy@gmfa.org.uk and we'll let you know as soon as registration opens.
Previous years
Sports Day 2007
Sports Day 2007 took place on Monday August 27th in Spring Gardens, Vauxhall. This was the first year of the Sports Day revival.
Over £1,200 was raised and split between GMFA, Vauxhall City Farm and the Friends of Spring Gardens. The winning team were Dried up Drags and the top fundraisers were St. Edna.
The video from Sports Day 2007 can be viewed below:
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