PRESS RELEASE
Real ale lovers raise a glass to Samaritans.
11 July 2009
Real ale lovers raised a glass to Samaritans at the Fourth Cheltenham Beer Festival which was held on 11 July 2009 at the Old Patesians Club in Everest Road, Cheltenham. This family event, organised by the Friends of Cheltenham Samaritans, attracted around 1,000 people. The festival was a huge success and provided great entertainment for whole families as well as those who came to sample the real ale. When the festival opened at midday there were 46 different beers, 6 ciders and 4 perrys, from breweries across England and Wales, to be sampled. These included previous prize winning ales; Uley - Old Spot, Goffs - White Knight, Stonehenge - Eyeopener together with the much appreciated Stroud - Budding and Battledown's Natural Selection. The latter beer was brewed for this year's Cheltenham Science Festival and its name was provided by Leigh Norwood, a longstanding member of the Friends of Cheltenham Samaritans.
To accompany the fine beers there was a BBQ and a pig roast to satisfy even the biggest appetites. The beer drinkers were able to bring along their families for a great afternoon and/or evening's entertainment with live music throughout the event, together with a bouncy castle, face painting and other activities that kept the children happy. The live music was provided by artists including Steve Kent, Adam & Band and High Jingo among others.
It was only a shame that the rain began to fall during the evening after a warm and sunny afternoon. However festival visitors enjoyed themselves until the close at 11pm.
By the time the event closed the Friends hade raised over £8,000 to donate to the Cheltenham and District Branch of Samaritans. Cynthia Pearce, chair of the Cheltenham Samaritans, said "We are greatly indebted to Nick Lawrence and the rest of the Friends group for their fundraising efforts. The Friends are a truly remarkable group of people. They recently attended the Glastonbury Festival, as stewards, and donated their earnings to the branch. Since their formation the Friends have raised over £150,000 to support us in providing confidential help to our callers, many of whom are worried, unable to cope and frequently suicidal. Anyone who requires further information about Cheltenham Samaritans, whether as a caller, a prospective volunteer or as a potential donor is encouraged to visit our recently developed website at www.cheltenhamsamaritans.org"
Nick Lawrence said "I would like to thank the Charles Irving Trust for their sponsorship as well as all those extremely kind individuals and companies who sponsored a barrel of beer helping us to ensure that we made as much profit as possible. It was a great event and over 3,000 pints of beer were drunk! We hope to see everyone at the Fifth Cheltenham Beer Festival which will be held on 10th July next year."
For further information about this press release or to learn more about Cheltenham Samaritans please contact Graham Tandy, Publicity Officer, Cheltenham Samaritans, Victoria House, Back Albert Place, Cheltenham, GL52 2HN (Phone: 07777 683 448 or email: publicity@cheltenhamsamaritans.org)
Further information regarding Friends of Cheltenham Samaritans can be obtained by contacting Nick Lawrence (email: nick@cambraypropertymanagement.co.uk or phone: 07912 885105).