The annual Hanbury’s Fish and Chips on the Downs Music Festival event in the Babbacombe Festival Marquee this June raised a staggering £10,480.81. David Hanbury, who organises the event said “I am absolutely delighted with the amount of money that was raised this year. As always, this is a team effort and we’ve had enormous support from sponsors, groups and individuals without whom we couldn’t hope to reach such an amazing total.”
All the money raised has gone to David’s chosen charity, the Torbay Holiday Helpers Network (THHN) which is a Babbacombe based charity. The THHN gives free holidays to families who have seriously ill and bereaved children, recently bereaved families, couples who have lost a child and to families who have a terminally ill parent and it is a charity that David is particularly keen to support. He said “The work that Luke Tillen and his team do is so important and I’m only too pleased to help provide holidays for more wonderful families here in South Devon. The team at THHN are lovely to work with and their Fundraising Manager, Brian Lewis, deserves special mention for his tireless work helping make the day a success co-ordinating all the volunteers, attending planning meetings and generally helping out wherever required.”
Hundreds of people attended this year’s event and were treated to a line-up that included the Stone Angels, Land of the Giants, Shamrock, Ollie Stephens, a special appearance by the Krankies and headline act, Mama Stones House Band, featuring Phoebe Ions.
Sponsors of this year’s event included Boyce Hatton Solicitors, Babbacombe Garage, Riviera Mortgages, The Babbacombe Inn, The Buccaneer Inn, Angels Tea Rooms, The Rotary Club of Babbacombe and St Marychurch and Child Friendly Matters. The event itself consisted of ten hours of fantastic live music. David said “I thought the line-up we had this year was really fantastic and I have to thank Anais Hay who handled all of the bookings and finer details behind the scenes. I’m also incredibly grateful, of course, to all the Hanbury’s staff who worked so hard serving over one thousand portions of fish and chips on the day. I’m very lucky to have such a great team here at Hanbury’s.”
Hanbury’s Fish and Chips on the Downs was the finale of this year’s five days of Babbacombe Festival Marquee activities which, as well as supporting the THHN, also had events which raised money for Rowcroft Hospice, CLIC Sargent, the Poppy Appeal and End Polio Now. David added “Particular thanks must go to Martyn Strange who, for many years now, has provided the spectacular Babbacombe Festival Marquee as well as co-ordinating a selection of events that have been enjoyed by hundreds of people and raised such a lot of money for the various charities supported by the Festival.”
The 2014 Festival was blessed with fantastic summer sun throughout and Babbacombe Downs was full of people enjoying both the weather and the atmosphere at all of the events which also included the Torbay Armed Forces Day which saw crowds lining the street to celebrate with Armed Forces past and present.
David said “Overall this year was definitely the best year we’ve ever had. There was a lovely atmosphere throughout and it was really wonderful to see so many people enjoying what was on offer. Babbacombe Downs is a superb location and what happens up there during Festival week introduces lots of new people to this spectacular location.”
The Festival website www.babbacombefestival.com now has a gallery of pictures so you can re-live all the goings-on from June 2014.