How to find us and parking
Have a look at the map on the Venue page if you are unsure about where we are. There will be lots of signs in the area so we hope no one gets lost. The car park is at the Earth Trust Centre, where they will be having their lambing weekend. We will then direct you from the car park out of their site and down the footpath to the Pooh Sticks registration tent. There will be lots of signs along the footpath and it's about 10 minutes downhill. After you have registered it's another 5 minutes from our registration tent and a few activities in the paddock down hill again to the island and the two bridges where the games take place.
There will be a limited amount of disabled parking spaces available closer to the registration tent. This will also be signposted.
 
Lambing at the Earth Trust Centre
The Earth Trust will also be open on 24th March for one of its Lambing Days. This will be from 10am to 4pm so why not visit the lambs before or after playing Pooh Sticks.
 
Access
Please remember that our venue is not designed for big family days out. Whatever the weather over the next week, given that we've had so much rain over the last few months, Wellington boots are would be a good idea. The car park is a field, the path from the car park to the Pooh Sticks site could get muddy, our registration tent is in a paddock and the games are on the island which can also get pretty muddy. All-terrain buggies will be fine on the grass, but the gate to the Keeper of the Sticks area is not wide enough for a double buggy. If the paddock is dry enough, then we will have limited disabled parking near to the registration tent for those who are unable to walk long distances.
 
What time does everything happen?
The registration tent will open at 11am and this is where you pay for your tickets, for both the team and individual games. The individual games will start at 11.30 and will probably finish by about 2pm but it does of course depend on the number of visitors on the day so to avoid disappointment please come along earlier rather than later. We expect the registration tent to close at 1.15pm to individual entries. We normally have 3 rounds of games before our semi finals and finals. This year the team games will be held later than previously to reduce the congestion in the Keeper of the Sticks area. We plan to start the team games at 1.30pm so you should aim to arrive by 1pm. Don't forget that teams also need to go to the registration tent to pay and so that we can keep a record of which teams have arrived. Teams need to register in advance on the How to Enter page.
In the registration tent each player will be given a goodie bag with information about the day and a couple of jars of honey, Pooh Bear's favourite, from Rowse Honey, one of our local sponsors.
 
How much does it cost?
We charge £12.00 for a team of four and £2.00 for individual players.  All of the money raised goes to charities supported by our Rotary Club and other clubs that help us on the day.
 
Food and Drink
We will have hot dogs & burgers & hot drinks on the island as well as a fudge & toffee stand.
We have a small tuck shop next to the Keeper of the Sticks for those who get peckish while waiting for their turn to play Pooh Sticks.
And we have teas and cakes being served outside the church near the registration tent.
 
Other Games and Entertainment
We have lots to keep you entertained. We have a bouncy castle on the island alongside the hook a duck and splat the rat games. We have face painting on the island and a roaming balloon modeller who will make you a balloon dog or hat. We have a tombola on the island and possibly even a human fruit machine!
We will even have Nordic Walking taster sessions! These will be run by Sally Dance and are supported by the South Oxfordshire District Council's Go Active initiative and the Community Games.See the Nordic Walking poster on the Pooh Sticks homepage and call to book a place. Parking will be at the same place as for all the Pooh Sticks games - at the Earth Trust farm. The meeting point for the Nordic Walking will be outside the church, near the teas and cakes. Taster session will be led by Sally at 11.30, 12.00, 12.30, and 13.00
 
Facilities
Toilets are provided in the paddock near the registration tent and the church.
The St John Ambulance team will be in the first aid tent on the island.
 
Why do we do this?
Well, we hope that it's a fun day out for everyone, but also we hope to raise lots of money for local charities and other causes supported by our Rotary clubs and the clubs that help us. Last year and in 2011 we raised over £3,000 each time so we hope to repeat that again this year. We rely on lots of volunteers to make the day a success and many of them are helping to raise funds for their own Rotary or Rotaract club or their own charity. We are also hugely grateful to our sponsors who enable us to run such a day. Our aim is that the sponsorship covers the costs of some of the less exciting things such as toilet hire, recycling bins, the St John Ambulance cover and equipment hire. Then that means that income from ticket sales and from the other games such as the bouncy castle and the hook a duck can all go to our chosen charities after the event.
 
And what is Rotary?
Rotary is a huge world-wide organisation, with 62 clubs in our district alone, across Oxfordshire, south Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and west Middlesex. Other local activities organised by Rotary Clubs nearby include the Dragon Boat Racing in Abingdon. Read more about our Rotary Club - Oxford Spires, on our website and look out for Lesley our Club President at Pooh Sticks.