Save Colchester's Roman Circus » roman

Football fans donate £1084

Howard Lake — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:36:03 +0000

Football fans at Colchester United v Oldham last Saturday showed their support for the Roman Circus appeal by donating £1084.

Fans were treated to the sight of a Roman charioteer parading around the edge of the pitch with this two horses. Professional film stuntman Andy Butcher donated his time to help the appeal make an impact with football fans.

He was joined by a band of volunteers with buckets collecting from the fans, together with the doughty Jess Jephcott in full Roman soldier costume.

The crowd was very supportive and many of them wished the volunteers well with the campaign.

On the day we were delighted to hear that football legend Terry Venables had given his support to the Roman Circus Appeal.

So, thank you to Colchester United for all the help and support. They’ve been featuring the Roman Circus appeal on their big screen at all their home matches this year. And thank you to the many people who gave on the day.

£10,000 raised at Appeal’s launch of its vision

Howard Lake — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:04:39 +0000

Nearly 100 people came to learn more about the Colchester Roman Circus Appeal at the Colchester Town Hall last week. It was standing room only as supporters and residents joined the patrons and staff of the Colchester Archaeological Trust to hear about what was planned for the Circus, if the appeal is successful.

The evening was enjoyable introduced and compered by Tony Gardner, with contributions from Wendy Bailey, Sven Wombwell, Philip Wise (Heritage Manager at Colchester Museums), and Bill Hayton.

The highlight of the event was the presentation by Philip Crummy, Director of the Colchester Archaeological Trust, who ran the team that discovered and unearthed the Circus, the only one in the Roman Empire discovered north of the Alps.

Philip explained why the Circus mattered and what the Trust had got planned for it, should the appeal succeed.

Many in the audience were keen to get further involved, and plenty of ideas and suggestions were raised from the audience.

An appeal for donations raised £10,000 on the night, not including Gift Aid, plus promises of other donations to be sent in via the post and online.

Thank you to the Mayor for making the Mayor’s Parlour available for the event, and to Carters’ Vineyard, The Lemon Tree, and Waitrose Colchester for donating wine, food, sparkling wine and juice, all of which helped make the evening a great success.

Roman chariots in Colchester

Howard Lake — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 06:24:22 +0000

While our appeal will not be recreating the Roman chariot circus, you can get a sense of what these events looked like from Matt Mirrington’s film of the Colchester Chariot Spectacular 2007, filmed in Abbey Fields, just a few hundred yards from where the Circus remains lie buried.

Exotic belly dancers to perform at Colchester’s Roman Dinner

Howard Lake — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:12:40 +0000

A professional troupe of belly dancers will perform for ‘Roman’ diners in Colchester at the Appeal Fund’s fundraising dinner on 29th January. Akula Tribal Bellydance have kindly donated their services.

“We now have a fantastic array of talent for the dinner”, said Don Quinn, who is organising the event.

The dancers are part of a full night’s entertainment of music, comedy and dance.

Tickets to the dinner event cost £30 each. Organisers Snake in the Grass Ltd are donating their services for this event free of charge to the Appeal. All profits will be donated to the Appeal.

Book online via credit/debit card or Paypal. Alternatively e-tickets are available via don.quinn@ntlworld.com or via Don on 07766056747.