More than £27,000 has been raised for 45 different charities at the third Cockermouth Charities Week.
And that total is set to soar again as a rare cricket bat, owned by Cockermouth sports star Ben Stokes, goes to public auction next month.
Charities Week, organised by Cockermouth & District Chamber of Trade, took place last month. Since then, the money has been flooding in to the 80 businesses and organisations which took part. The culmination of a week of fundraising was a family fun day which saw stalls all around the town.
There was also a Dining Delights raffle, with a Michelin-starred lunch at The Cottage in the Wood as its top prize. All the proceeds from the raffle went to the Chamber’s chosen charity for 2024, the befriending organisation Linking Lives Cockermouth.
As well as raising money, the aim of the event is to heighten the profile of different organisations, sharing their expertise and skills. One of the town’s biggest businesses, engineering firm James Walker, moved its annual mental health week for its employees to coincide with the event.
The 2024 event is the biggest yet and received support from top cricketer Ben Stokes and Olympic swimmer Luke Greenbank.
One of Ben’s bats will be auctioned at a specialist sale at Graham Budd Auctions in London on September 3. Anyone who wants to make a bid can do so online at https://bidlive.grahambuddauctions.co.uk/auctions
In addition, sports commentator and former darts star Alan Warriner-Little, whose wife, Brenda, owns WM Walker Jewellers, sourced a dartboard which was used in the World Matchplay in Blackpool.
It is signed by Luke Humphries, Rob Cross, Michael van Gerwen and Michael Smith, the top four players in the world. This sold on eBay for £350 in aid of Charities Week.
The event’s co-ordinator and chamber of trade member Andrew Marshall, whose family run Strolling4Shoes, said: “Thank you to every single person who made a contribution to Cockermouth Charities Week, whether that’s someone spending a pound on a raffle ticket, or a business raising thousands.
“The variety of fundraising was brilliant. We saw Councillor Andy Semple, chairman of Cumberland Council, collect £100 by busking, while one lady raised £400 single-handedly in our Eat In to Help Out initiative where she cooked for her friends and charged them for the privilege.
“In 2023, Cockermouth Charities Week saw £18,000 donated to 35 different causes by more than 70 companies – now look how much it’s grown.
“You are all amazing and we continue to be stunned by the generosity of the people in our town.”
