A charity has received nearly £700 thanks to the Winchester Beer and Cider Festival that took place in June.
Read Easy Winchester was selected as the nominated charity for the event on June 27-28, raising £700 through customer donations during the event.
The festival, organised by the Southern Hampshire branch of CAMRA and held at Winchester University Student Union, was supported by volunteers who were later invited to a thank-you evening at the Albion pub in Winchester, owned by Hop Back Brewery.
The cheque presentation took place on Tuesday, July 29 at the Albion, on Stockbridge Road, where the team leader of Read Easy Winchester, Dave Richardson, accepted the donation.
Mr Richardson said: “On behalf of Read Easy Winchester, thank you for the amazing donation.
“We are wholly run by volunteers, and will be able to use it to purchase manuals, reading books and training for our reading coaches and readers.”
Members of CAMRA presenting cheque to Read Easy Winchester (Image: Vinay Narang)
Dave Hoggett, a member of the organising team also spoke during the celebratory evening, commending those that were involved with the running of the festival and the selection of the charity.
He said: “It was great to be back in our new ‘home’ and it was a very successful festival again.
“As usual, we gave hundreds of people a fabulous time and helped our breweries and suppliers with crucial sales.
“And raised lots of money for charity, we can all be very proud of ourselves.
“It was great fun and also a lot of hard work but, thanks to you, we spread the good message about real ale, cider and CAMRA.”
Kevin Wooton, the festival organiser said: “We were pleased to be supporting Read Easy Winchester.
“The charity offers a free service to help and support adults in and around Winchester to learn how to read one-to-one in comfortable surroundings such as coffee shops and cafes, at a pace which is led by the user.”
Read Easy Winchester was set up in 2015 and now covers Andover, Romsey, Eastleigh/Chandlers Ford and surrounding areas.
The groups are financially independent from Read Easy UK, and are individually responsible for funding the groups, aside from donations.
Winchester Beer and Cider Festival selects a different local charity every year, to match their ethos of supporting local businesses and breweries.
To find out more about Read Easy Winchester, visit: https://readeasy.org.uk/groups/winchester/
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