PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ALE FESTIVAL SERVES £20.5K TO LOCAL CAUSES
Wedmore Real Ale Festival (WRAF) celebrated another record year of ale drinking and fundraising on Saturday night, with
the organisers pouring out £20,500 in donations to local worthy causes, their largest donation yet.
Some 18 organisations were handed cheques at the annual Presentation Evening at Wedmore Masonic Hall in Wedmore on
1 st October 2022. The cheques were presented before 70 people, made up of the successful beneficiaries and Ale Festival
volunteers, who gathered to celebrate a very successful 21 st festival, which took place in the village over the weekend of 9-
11th September.
This year’s new record breaking £20,500 brings the total amount of money we have raised for local worthy causes over the
festival’s 21-year history to a whopping £246,820.
The beneficiaries for 2022 include Children's Hospice South West, Weston Hospicecare, Weston-Super-Mare Samaritans,
Somewhere House (Somerset) Limited and Wedmore & Axbridge Community Health Fund.
‘As with all previous years, we’re delighted that this year’s festival was such a success. We’re delighted to be able to give away a record-breaking £20,500 this year,’ said James Turbitt, WRAF’s Chairperson. ‘This has exceeded all our expectations as we had incurred huge increases in all our costs this year, then the death of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on the eve of the festival, left us unsure if we could or should open and, if we did, if anyone would turn up.’
James added: ‘Deciding on where and how much to donate is always a difficult decision and it never gets any easier with so many worthy causes in need of funds, but giving out the cheques makes all the hard work in running the festival more than worthwhile. None of this would be possible without the huge commitment from our committee, the team of Volunteers, our sponsors and everyone else who supports the festival in one way or another. So, they should also take the credit for what we have all achieved this year”
The complete list of 2022 beneficiaries:
Mark First School Parent Teacher Friends Association £ 465.00
Blackford Village Hall £ 500.00
Wedmore First School Academy Nursery and First School Reception class £ 500.00
Wedmore in Bloom £ 500.00
Wedmore Tuesday Club £ 500.00
Hugh Sexey Church of England Middle School £ 761.00
Weston-Super-Mare Samaritans £ 774.00
1st Wedmore Scouts £1,000.00
Theale Village Hall Committee £1,000.00
Wedmore First School Academy PTA £1,000.00
Wedmore Play Area Association £1,000.00
Weston Hospicecare £1,000.00
Wedmore Playing Fields Management Committee £1,000.00
Wedmore and Axbridge Community Health Fund £1,500.00
Wedmore Men’s Shed £1,700.00
Wedmore Guides £1,800.00
Somewhere House Somerset Ltd £2,500.00
Children Hospice South West £3,000.00
The Wedmore Real Ale Festival
57 Meareway, Westhay, Somerset, BA6 9TZ
www.wedmorerealale.com
The donation to Wedmore Guides includes their £500 share of the takings from the festival raffle, which they helped to run and which generated £1,895.75 worth of takings.
The dates for next year’s festival are changing back to the third weekend in September, so please put the 15th –17th of September 2023 in your diary.
– Ends –
For further information, please
contact Alan Page: 07799 473316 / alan.page02@gmail.com
Please attribute photographs to: Dae Sasitorn