Happy New Year, NELDA! 🎉

Happy New Year, NELDA!

Thank you to everyone who joined us at Walmer Bridge to see out another year and welcome in 2026 together. What a weekend it was! So much happened that I’m not entirely sure how to fit it all in, but I’ll give it a good go.

New Year’s Eve 🎆

The first night kicked off with NELDA’s inaugural (and hopefully not last!) Great New Year Mr vs Mrs Off. A fierce competition, but the Mrs’s took the honours this time, congratulations!

New Year’s Eve itself showed just how well everyone scrubs up, especially for a bunch of campers. We celebrated the end of 2025 and the start of 2026 with classic NELDA games and plenty of dancing.

Highlights included:

• Steve Heath winning Penny in the Bucket

• Katie taking the title in Bogey Man

• and our mysterious Treasure Hunter Extraordinaire (you know who you are!)

Eddie and his boys entertained us with their brilliant brush guitar skills, and the dance floor stayed busy well into the night. I probably should have gone to bed earlier, but those Rileys are a bad influence!

New Year’s Day 🥳

New Year’s Day saw the continuation of the darts competition and the room décor reaching completion. Then, suddenly, a horde of punks descended; some of whom hadn’t had that much hair for many, many years!

It was fantastic to see so much tartan, safety pins, spikes, and studs.

Although prize bingo was cut a little short, I think everyone still enjoyed it.

The highlight of the evening has to be Barbara’s impressive skills in “Stay on Your Spot”, winning the first round, closely followed by Graham’s discovery of craptic quizzes, which was a great way to round off the night.

Friday Fun 🎯

Friday brought the crowning of our Darts Champion: Glen. Who could have predicted that? I think it’s safe to say everyone else needs to get some practice in before next year.

Then came the Quiz of the Year. It turns out that if I can answer the questions, it’s officially an OK Quiz, so now we know exactly what level we’re working at! 😂

The quiz was won by our esteemed chairman Paul, along with Tom and Ste (I forgot to ask the team name, sorry!).
We also trialled Lucky 13s for the first time, feedback welcome! Joanne decided it would be hilarious to make everyone put their hands into Anthony’s socks. And despite a little controversy, the final result ended in a draw between Team 3 and Team 6.

We wrapped up the meet with that absolute NELDA classic: everyone dressing up in the wackiest outfits from the NELDA wardrobe.

Thank Yous 💚

I can’t possibly name everyone, but some special mentions are very much deserved:

• Paul and Deb; without whom this simply wouldn’t happen. The planning and organising that takes place long before we even book is incredible.

• The ladies who do the shopping; I’m glad it’s only once a year!

• Everyone who helps set up on arrival day.

• Our chefs and kitchen heroes, especially:

  • Sharon and the buffet ladies

  • Laura for the fabulous stew

  • Paul for the chilli

  • Ste for sous cheffing

  • Eddie and the pie night team

  • Tom for the amazing cheesecakes

• Everyone who helped prep, serve, and wash up.

• Isabelle and Deb for their creative efforts in the hall, and everyone who helped bring it all together.

• Peter and Janet for covering New Year’s Eve so we could enjoy the night off.

• Paul for introducing the darts competition and for always helping turn my silly visions into reality and for keeping us entertained.

Honestly, I can’t think of a single person who doesn’t deserve a massive thank you. I’m so grateful for everyone’s help, energy, and enthusiasm.

Hope to see you all again next year, and hopefully sooner too.
Watch this space for more photos! 📸