Sunshine, Smiles and an Incredible £779.52 Raised!
What a day!
On Tuesday 11 August, the sun was shining over Harborne as Cerebral Palsy Midlands opened its doors for our 2026 Summer Sizzler Fete – and what an incredible celebration of community, inclusion and friendship it turned out to be.
More than 150 people joined us throughout the day, including our CPM citizens, families and carers, friends and supporters, local residents, Birmingham City Council commissioners, community organisations, businesses and volunteers.
For us, the Summer Sizzler is about much more than fundraising. It gives people the opportunity to come into Cerebral Palsy Midlands, meet the people at the heart of our charity, learn more about the support we provide and, most importantly, enjoy a fun and inclusive day together.
And this year's Sizzler certainly delivered!
Live Music, Entertainment and Plenty of Joining In
Music played a big part in the day, with our very own CPM Ben entertaining everyone alongside live band "A Fish Called Wandy".
The band brought the CPM garden to life with classic favourites from The Beatles to Oasis and plenty more in between. Rather than simply watching a performance, everyone was encouraged to get involved, with instruments, singing and lots of joining in. Our citizen James even found himself sitting alongside the band and becoming part of the performance!
We were also delighted to welcome Craig & Eddie, who made an appearance during the day and added even more entertainment to our packed programme.
Around the centre there was plenty more to discover, including arts and crafts, soft archery, axe throwing, Spin the Wheel and the very important challenge of guessing the name of our carrot teddy!
Our Summer Raffle and Tombola also proved incredibly popular and helped us raise vital funds for CPM.
From Bearded Dragons to Tarantulas!
One of the biggest attractions of the day was undoubtedly Creature Feature Experience, who transformed a double marquee in our garden into an amazing animal-handling experience.
Visitors had the opportunity to get up close to an incredible selection of creatures, including rabbits, a bearded dragon, tortoise, tarantula, centipedes, leeches and more.
There were definitely a few braver visitors than others!
The experience was hugely popular and gave our citizens and visitors the opportunity to touch, hold and learn about animals they may never normally encounter.
Fantastic Food in the Sunshine
Of course, no summer fete would be complete without plenty of food!
Alongside our CPM BBQ, Nanny Brown's created a fantastic Caribbean food station in the garden, serving jerk chicken, chicken and coconut curry, vegetable curry, dumplings, coleslaw and cabbage.
The feedback was brilliant, with visitors enjoying delicious food while sitting outside and soaking up the sunshine and atmosphere.
Bringing Our Community Together
One of the things we are particularly proud of this year was the sheer number and variety of organisations that joined us.
Every visitor received a Summer Sizzler Stamp Card when they arrived, encouraging them to explore the centre, visit the different stalls, speak to organisations and find out more about the support and services available within our community.
Completed cards were entered into a special prize draw, with a prize kindly provided by Irwin Mitchell. Congratulations to our CPM citizen Bobbie, whose name was drawn as our winner!
Visitors were able to meet representatives from a fantastic range of organisations and businesses throughout the day.
Birmingham City Council Adult Social Care joined us to speak to people and answer questions about adult social care, while Forward Carers provided information about support available to Birmingham's caring community.
Edgbaston NNS / Age UK shared information about local community services, while Blue Badgers promoted discounts and opportunities available for carers.
Visitors could also receive health checks from Gateway Services, including blood pressure and weight checks, and Ruth Chauhan joined us with information and advice around health and wellbeing.
Our friends from West Midlands Ambulance Service brought along an emergency response vehicle and provided potentially life-saving information and demonstrations. Our citizen Anthony Lunney even had the opportunity to practise resuscitation techniques on a training mannequin and learn more about what to do in an emergency.
Veolia got everyone thinking about rubbish, recycling and how we can make better choices about the waste we produce, with an interactive game that proved popular with visitors.
Shropshire Wildlife Trust brought wildlife-themed activities and crafts, while Harborne Pool & Fitness Centre offered information and taster opportunities.
We were also pleased to welcome Help for Heroes, Child Bereavement UK, Avon and our very own CPM Parent Trustee Allyson Lilly with her popular Everything is £1 stall.
GT3D Printing brought an amazing collection of UKCA-tested 3D-printed animals, fidgets, models, statues and sensory items, with plenty for visitors to browse.
Peta Mandleberg from Not Just Travel was also there to tell visitors about CPM's Partner in Travel initiative. Through the partnership, people can receive personal support planning their next holiday while also supporting Cerebral Palsy Midlands, as a donation is made to CPM for qualifying holidays booked through Peta.
It was wonderful to see so many different organisations under one roof, sharing information, starting conversations and connecting with our citizens, families and wider community.
Remembering Our Lovely Mary
There was also a particularly meaningful activity taking place in our art room.
Our volunteers from Goldman Sachs helped visitors with potting and a special Memory Tree craft in memory of our much-loved arty citizen, Mary Hill.
It provided a lovely opportunity to remember Mary and bring creativity, memories and friendship into the day – things which mean so much to our CPM community.
An Incredible Team of Volunteers
An event of this size simply couldn't happen without volunteers.
We were incredibly fortunate to have around 10 volunteers from Goldman Sachs, who threw themselves into the day. From welcoming people at reception and helping with our raffle and games to running the tombola, potting activities and Memory Tree crafts, they helped us enormously.
We were also joined by two volunteers from the Casualty Simulation Group, alongside our fantastic CPM volunteers Honey, Amanda, Vic, Steven and Kat.
Thank you to every single person who gave their time, energy and enthusiasm to help make the event possible.
Our BNI Community Came Out in Force
The Summer Sizzler also demonstrated just how valuable relationships within our local business community can be.
Cerebral Palsy Midlands holds the charity seat within a local BNI business networking group, and several of our BNI friends supported the event in different ways. We received a fantastic £200 sponsorship donation from Daniel Fisher of Pagio Websites, alongside £150 sponsorship from Ian Lamb of IL Solutions.
Peta Mandleberg from Not Just Travel joined us with her stall, Sharon from Nanny Brown's kept everyone very well fed, while copywriter Wendy Jones swapped words for music for the afternoon and joined her husband as A Fish Called Wandy! These relationships go far beyond networking. Seeing people give their time, skills, businesses and support to help our charity means an enormous amount to us.
£779.52 Raised for Cerebral Palsy Midlands!
And finally, we are delighted to announce that the CPM Summer Sizzler raised an incredible £779.52!
This is alongside the £350 received in event sponsorship, meaning the day generated valuable funds to support the work of Cerebral Palsy Midlands.
Every pound raised helps us continue providing opportunities, activities, experiences and support for adults with cerebral palsy and other disabilities. But the success of the day can't be measured by money alone.
More than 150 people came through our doors. Our citizens spent time with family and friends, met new people, enjoyed live music, handled animals, played games, learned new skills and took part in activities alongside members of their local community.
New people discovered Cerebral Palsy Midlands. Neighbours came in to see what happens behind our doors. Community organisations connected with families and carers. Businesses volunteered alongside our citizens. Birmingham City Council commissioners saw our service in action.
That is what the Summer Sizzler is really about – bringing people together.
A Huge Thank You
There are so many people who helped make the CPM Summer Sizzler possible.
To our citizens, families, carers, staff, volunteers, stallholders, entertainers, community partners, sponsors, local businesses and everyone who simply came along and enjoyed the day with us – thank you.
Thank you for buying a raffle ticket, having a go on a game, visiting a stall, volunteering an hour, sponsoring the event, sharing our posts, performing, cooking, crafting, donating or simply showing up.
You helped create a wonderful summer day at Cerebral Palsy Midlands – and we couldn't have done it without you.
See you at the next one!
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