I recently went along to the Connect at G Live Day in Guildford.

This was an opportunity for local charities and organisations to meet the community and showcase what they do. There were stands from many organisations and it was interesting wandering around finding out about their work.

G Live were also offering backstage tours of the venue, which I was very excited to book.

We had a chance to wander on the stage and then take a walk behind the scenes to see the dressing rooms, the technical equipment and everything that goes into bringing the shows to life.

We heard about the requests that artists put in for their time at G Live, some of which are very interesting, and how the dressing rooms and green rooms are designed to be a home from home for the stars who often spend months on the road touring the country.

It was fascinating seeing the venue from the other side, having sat in the audience for shows many times. So much goes on behind the scenes and there are many people working tirelessly to bring these shows to the stage.

G Live was orginally the Civic Hall in Guildford but in the early 2000s it was reaching the end of its life, so Guildford Borough Council set plans in motion to build a replacement venue. G Live was born out of this and offers mainly one-night shows based on comedy and live music.

It is amazing to think over the years how many big names have played G Live and The Civic Hall - notably local legend Eric Clapton who played sell-out shows at his home venue earlier this year.

Elsewhere the summer fete season continues, and I braved the heat to visit the Goldsworth Park fete, then the fete at St John’s village.

I love a fete – and the randomness of the tombolas as I have mentioned before.

At St John’s I had a go on a family tombola and won a set of kids' books and a bracelet-making set!

I was then drawn to the St John’s Care bottle tombola, eyeing up the various bottles of wine and other goodies. I paid my money and pulled out a ticket ending in a 5 – what had I won?

Well, a scan of the bottles revealed my prize – a fruit shoot bottle!

Still, it was a hot day so it was welcome refreshment and it's great that the money raised supports local grass-roots community organisations and, of course, the local Scouts and Guides who were running the events in St John’s and Goldsworth Park.

I am looking forward to the rest of the fete season and seeing what other random prizes I can win!

Listen to my radio shows on Radio Woking: Sunday 9am – noon, Wednesday 7-9am. Life on The Edge every second Sunday at noon with Edge Disability Consultancy.

You can hear Emma and I on Surrey Hills Community Radio every second Monday at 9pm and Life on the Edge airs every first Monday at 10am.

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