August is traditionally a respite month for our Round Table activities, but this year has proven to be somewhat busier than normal.
We kicked off by heading south of the river to enjoy an evening with our Dartford buddies at a Junkyard Crazy Golf event.  We were especially pleased to welcome along our National President (and fellow Essex Area member) Mark House.  It was a fantastic evening with plenty of laughs had by all, but we are not expecting a call from the Team GB anytime soon!  A week later, pretty much the same motley crew went to Festival Leisure Park to have a crack at Wakeboarding.  We all agreed that this was an absolute blast, but the days of sore arms/ shoulders/neck that followed was not so great – we are definitely doing it again next year!  
We have had a number of new guys come along recently to check out our goings-on and we are always very happy to meet ordinary fellas looking to do extraordinary things, so please check us out at www.facebook.com/billericayroundtable and www.billericayroundtable.co.uk or contact us directly on [email protected]

We are also heading at full steam towards 5th November Fireworks at Lake Meadows.  We are again expecting 18000+ visitors and so if you are interested in sponsoring our event, then we have numerous opportunities to do so.

Details can be requested via [email protected]  lastly, we invite members of our community to make a donation request for a special person or special group within the Billericay area via www.billericayroundtable.co.uk/funding

Billericay Round Table’s summer is shaping up to be another sizzler.  In early June, the lads headed south of the river to join with Dartford members for an evening of mountain biking around Cyclopark in Gravesend; one of the largest purpose-built facilities in Europe with plenty of high-speed tricky trails to offer.  By luck rather than skill, no one crashed out too seriously so the group were able to relax and enjoy a post-event curry and a well-earned drink together.

Talking of drinks, this year’s Lions Billericay Beer Festival featured two of our very own, specially brewed kegs of beer – a Pale and a Mild. Our good friends at Billericay Brewing Company came up trumps again with the tasty tipples which we donated to the charity event. We are already looking forward to testing next year’s batch!

To round off June, it was back to Billericay Cricket club for a re-run of last year’s themed-match – English Gents vs RestOfWorld. This is always a great opportunity to mix our fondness of dressing up in silly costumes with a bit of serious, sporting competition; if only the quality of play matched the high stakes of pride involved!  Always a good laugh this one and we were extremely pleased to welcome along two new fellas who contacted us about getting involved in our club.

The sun is out now and we’re off to visit our fellow European Round Table members on a long weekend of culture and fun in Berlin.
Following this, on the 23rd July, we are throwing a special, Hawaiian-themed afternoon BBQ and evening Disco at the Red Lion on the High street. This will be a great opportunity to meet the team and have a bit of fun with us.  If you fancy coming to this, or any other event, please check our details www.facebook.com/billericayroundtable and www.billericayroundtable.co.uk and contact us on [email protected].

Please add your comments below it would be great to hear from you.

Berlin was the destination this year for some of the guys who regularly take a Euro trip in June/July and it was one of the best yet.  Eight members, including a couple of guys from the 41 Club who have been on previous trips, headed out from Stansted in the early hours of Thursday morning.  The first beer of the holiday - traditionally at the airport regardless of what time we're there - was just before 5am! By around midday local time we had worked our way across Berlin to find our hotel, taking in a bar on the way of course, as it's thirsty work. The sun was shining and we were all in the mood for another great Euro trip.

The weekend wasn't just a beer-fest, although Thursday was mainly spent sampling the local "Berliner Kindl" beer, trying out some currywerst (sausage with loads of ketchup and some curry powder, essentially) and joining the Germans in supporting them for their semi-final match against France.  That was particularly hard to do! A great night to start the tour though.  We took a 3hr walk around Berlin on the Friday, seeing loads of incredibly famous sights and learning a huge amount about the dark history of the city.  Later in the afternoon we met up with 4 guys from Berlin RT44 who took us to a beer garden and a couple of other bars, keeping us entertained well into Saturday morning!

On Saturday we took a boat tour around the river in Berlin, although we missed the first boat and had to kill a couple of hours, so naturally we found a cool little bar/club by the river to pass some time.  In the evening we had an amazing Vietnamese meal (when in Rome?!) and some of us tried to relive our youth and ended up in a Berlin techno club until 5am.  We were mainly broken by that time but like true Tablers we nicked 3.5hrs kip and then got up on the Sunday to check out in time.

After much walking, getting on the wrong trains, going round in a massive circle and getting very hot and bothered in the sweltering 30C heat, we ended up at Strandbad Wannsee, the biggest outdoor lido in Europe, with 1.25km of sandy beach where we could chill down for the afternoon before heading back to the airport.  Apparently the place had a nudist section and it was literally next to the main beach with nothing really screening the naturists off, not that any of us went over to investigate further!

All in all, a fantastic long weekend with non-stop fun, banter, beers, some childish behaviour "Round Table style" and great fellowship throughout. We talked about some ideas for next year's trip and it's looking like Romania might be a favourite, so should be another great one. 
If you fancy a Table weekend away please email [email protected]

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There is no other challenge that gets the heart beating like a great paintball session with friends...  Well, given the carnage that took place amoungst 'friends' I will have to use the term lightly as the new chairman of less than 24hours got his posteria and the rest of his body pelted with paintballs on multiple occasions by his 'friends'.  It will take me less than a nano-second to think of the response when a future invite goes out to part in this one next time round.
Other than Marcus, everyone else had a 'splattering' time, full of paint, sweat and beers.

March2016 most of us visited the Billericay Brewery on Chapel Street to have a tour of our local micro-brewery.  I know this was not going to be a tour like Wembley considering the size of it is smaller than the 6 yard box but it did give us a great insight into the processes that are required to make really great brews.  I also learnt that this micro-brewery has its own micro-pub which is again extending its opening hours for our community to make use of.
There was a great story behind this brewery and the drinks being produced here were also great and would welcome any of them to host in pubs I/we frequent.

> Visit http://billericaybrewing.co.uk/ Today and feel free to invite us at Billericay Table along to join in the fun.

Bubble Football, if this event is not on every STAG do in the coming years this is a great laugh that you are missing out on.  
With a 5 a-side team set out and a few rolling subs we were all set for the funniest start to any event you can imagine, with us all strapped into our individual balls the real football was kicked into play and the whistle blown to start the match.
Can you imagine the reality of not having a full stride trying to run for or away from the ball?  With our hands restricted holding the straps inside the ball you can only imagine our balance trying to run, along with the visual impairment 'looking for a ball through a ball' and trying to identify your team colleagues, not forgetting the opposing team. 
With the game underway for only 2 seconds you hear the 'WORDS' being shouted as you realise people are knocking others over like skittles when the fear sets in that someone else has only the intension to try score you into the goal.  Arhhhhhhhhh!!
As for my 11 year old son he found it funny standing on his head vertically upside down!!
What a great laugh.

January 2016 social event was were a dozen of us met up at the Warley Dry Ski Slope to sample the traditional skiing or snowboarding but in the end we all opted for the Rubber-Rings to bounce down the practice slope for light entertainment.  There were some cracking falls captured on camera and somehow some of the guys managed to establish a route to see who could go down and back up the slope the fastest.  As ever this was a great laugh. 
Then to follow this our Chairman said he had prepared some food (and drinks) earlier on which was re-heated on camping burners in the corner of the car park we were all impressed with this ‘random’ location but his food which was of the alpine nature, was very nice indeed.

What a fantastic event today that the Rotary Club put on.  As first events go this was a great Bank Holiday turnout.
When the news was published about a SoapBoc Race in Billericay a few of the guys quickly got a team together and set to work about 4-5 months ago.  With a few brain storming sessions they guys soon got the great idea of putting together a Firework based theme for the crown and our guys to enjoy.
A few of the guys made sure the our SoapBox remained fit & well for the race while some of our other members helped out to assist the Rotary Club with the running of their event.
The feedback on Gate2 was really positive.   Hope to see you all next year, fingers crossed.

Here is our YOUTUBE Video with OldFashioned Images below.

Billericay RT were proud to be able to donate £200 towards the  Lakeside Harley Davidson 'Chapter's  gifts for their annual Basildon Hospital Children's Ward's 'Toy Run'.

Chapter spokesman Phil Poston, said " Members  of the chapter  were allowed (accompanied by some very nice nurses) to visit children on the Ward's, and to have a chat with them and hand out some of the Toys.  It was very moving."

"A couple of the children were well enough to come and see the Harley Davidson's.. and so we let them sit on the Bikes and the Parents (and staff) take photographs."

Gifts that weren't handed out were going to be kept and distributed to all the Children that would (unfortunately) be in the Hospital between now & the New Year.

"Both Basildon Hospital & the Organisers of the Event were made aware that the £200 donation had come from Billericay Round Table.. and were very grateful."