Knights in shining armour are answering the call to launch a new fundraising drive to improve and ‘fortify’ the children’s library area at Framlingham Library.
Local 15th Century re-enactment group the Suffolk Swords are attending a special Knights’ Tales event at the library on Saturday 5 August.
The Suffolk Swords will be assembling their best knights of the realm for a day of medieval activities for children and families with stories of their gallant adventures, slaying mythical beasts and saving damsels in distress. The knights will be showing off their shining armour and children can get involved with fun activities throughout the day.
Vivia Bamford, manager of Framlingham Library came up with the idea after a recent visit by the Suffolk Swords to Framlingham:
“We want to make some big improvements to our children’s library and create a new castle-themed area, which will be dubbed the ‘Library Keep’. It’ll reflect Framlingham’s most famous landmark it’s castle – and will create a welcoming and inspirational environment for everyone who visits the library. We have a 'castleometer' where we will record how much money we’ve raised. Our target is £20,000 and our Friends group has already kindly committed the first £2,000.”
David Lloyd from the Suffolk Swords, said:
"In May, one of our Suffolk Swords group members got married in Framlingham Unitarian Meeting House, next door to Framlingham Library. The librarian, Vivia Bamford, was very kind to the group, not just letting us use some car parking space to get dressed in our armour next to the venue but also bringing us a lot of squash to keep us hydrated on a very sunny day! We really wanted to repay her kindness so when we heard about the Library Keep fundraising plan we leapt at the chance for Suffolk Swords to be involved and support this event.”
If you would like to donate to the Library Keep campaign you can visit the JustGiving page or text FRAM followed by a donation amount to 70085.
No booking is needed for the Knights’ Tales event and you can drop in any time to meet the knights and hear their stories. The event is free to attend but donations are welcome.
The Suffolk Swords are a medieval re-enactment group based in Suffolk with members from across East Anglia. They mostly practice 15th century sword-fighting techniques and provide show-fighting and living history for local events such as the Colchester Medieval Fayre, Framlingham Country Show, Suffolk Military Show and many others.
The group can often be found wandering around events in full suits of plate armour - no mean feat when it's a hot day as the armour alone can weigh around 4 stone! Find out more about the Suffolk Swords by visiting their website.
