Tollsfest raises £9,000 for charity

Our very own MD, Nichola, lead a team with fellow Tollesbury resident John Hill, to put on the 10th Tollsfest and raised an impressive £9,000 for charity.
The chosen charities this year were Macmillan Cancer Support, Essex Air Ambulance, The Alzheimer’s Society and The Tollesbury branch of The Blackwater Scout Group.
The day kicked off with an energetic four and a half mile fun run organised by Tracey Hobden and Clare-Louise ‘Clou’ Flower, kindly sponsored by Justin Hobden from May Cottage Antiques to raise money for Pancreatic Cancer and Tollesbury School.
The live music started with local band Rex Reckless, followed by five more fantastic acts, The Flat Mountain Family, Dilute to Taste, Salty Dogs, Soul Kitchen, and Boogie Wonderband who performed a variety of different styles which got everyone moving their feet!
The annual event is held in memory of Chris Coates and Pete Brightwell. This year the close knit community remembered a much loved and dear friend to the village, Curly, who sadly passed away from Pancreatic Cancer last summer. Around 1,500 residents and friends attended and supported the event.
To date, Tollsfest has raised over £35,000 for charities including Cancer Research, Macmillan Cancer Support, The Pavilion Fund, Tollesbury Primary School, Tollesbury Pre School, Hemihelp, The Wilderness Foundation and MS-UK.
The day couldn’t have happened without the generous support of local sponsors and contributors including, Blackwater Fuels, Tollesbury Skip Hire, DW Clark, Jay Rogers Plumbing and Heating, Nick Bickell, Stuart Baker Construction, Rosetta, Wickham Engineering, Paul Haddow, Mobile Thrones, Palmers Garage, Colt Press, Marwood Group, Hosplant, Evers, Adam Hobden, Phelan Barker, the Wedding Marquee Company, Voice Communications, Fred’s Stores, Leavett’s Butchers, Shaken Udder, Innocent and all of the local businesses and residents who kindly donated prizes for the tombola and casino.
Nichola said: “Once again all of our hard work and dedication has paid off and Tollsfest 2014 was our best ever. We were delighted that so many people attended the event and enjoyed themselves, and we are incredibly grateful for the support which allowed us to raise such a large amount of money for our chosen causes.”