Thousands raised at charity beer festival


A beer festival held in aid of the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) has raised thousands of pounds for the lifesaving charity.


The festival was hosted by Judy Kitching MBE, one of the charity’s biggest supporters, at Sexhow Park Farm, near Hutton Rudby.

Festival-goers had no shortage of beer to choose from, with more than 50 barrels of ale available, and seven acts of all ages took to the stage to perform a variety of different music.

Cleveland Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) provided their expertise at the event, as well as bringing along lots of volunteers and sponsoring a barrel. In total, 27 local businesses sponsored barrels including Wilko who generously covered the cost of 28 beer barrels.

A specially-brewed beer, named MBEer in honour of Judy, sold out just three hours into the event, and by last orders the vast majority of the remaining barrels had been supped dry.

Mandy Drake, head of fundraising at GNAAS said: “The event was a fantastic success and we can’t thank Judy and all this year’s volunteers enough.”

The event was a sell out with 900 tickets being sold well in advance of the event. The money raised is still being counted but a total figure is to be announced soon.

Mrs Drake added: “The Great North Air Ambulance Service would like to thank all the volunteers, supporters and attendees at the event that made the second year of the festival such a barrel of fun.”

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