Launch Party cupcakes, iced tea and selfies galore.

Two news items in one day? We just had to tell you about our magical Saturday!

Just in case you are not on our social media, we thought we should tell you what a fun day Saturday was!

As you may have read, we had our Launch Party on 22nd August. It all went smoothly — except that, in an effort to be ecologically sound, we bought paper pom-poms instead of balloons. They took ages to assemble, which we had not anticipated! Fortunately, our VIP guests were all keen to help, so we had an impromptu icebreaker.

The event was attended by the Mayor of Lichfield, Rosie Harvey Coggins; our local MP, Dave Robertson; Lichfield Radio's Scott Millican and Davide Cioffi (otherwise known as Travelling Dave). Davide was also representing the Lichfield Chamber of Trade and Commerce, along with Marcus, and we were joined by Hannah from Grace Cares.

Family and friends helped considerably too. A special shout-out has to go to Eyvi Benedikz, who baked nearly 200 cupcakes and made gallons of iced tea!

We had several great conversations with members of the public about adult education in general, SEND, psychology and counselling. It was lovely to have the opportunity to talk about what we are doing at CASS and, just as importantly, to hear from people about their own experiences and interests.

Sadly, we did not have any winners of the purple cake competition. The gluten-free cakes were hardly touched, and someone must have eaten the other one without even realising it! So, we still have two beautiful study kits, which I may donate to charity or offer as prizes another time.

Anyhow, if you came in to meet us, stopped to speak to us outside the Guildhall, or were one of our amazing guests — it was an absolute pleasure to meet you. Thank you for helping to make our Launch Party such a special day.