The organisers of the Linton Festival met with representatives from their sponsor organisations and the charities who benefit from the event on Thursday, January 24th for an enjoyable evening at the Alma Inn. The history of how the Festival began was discussed, as well as the plans to make this year’s bigger and better than ever before.

Linton Festival is a not-for-profit event which uses all of its profits, not just to keep the Festival alive, but to provide key funds for local charities.

The evening highlighted the charity donations that the organisers have made since the festival began, which now amounts to almost £120,000, and was also used as an opportunity to thank all of the sponsors, new and old, for their contributions.

Dean Cowgill, who helps to organise the weekend event, thanked the sponsors for their support and reminded everyone how important the Festival is for the community. He said: “This Festival means so much to the community and the local people. It brings everybody together, and it helps keep important charities going.”

Their sponsors include local organisations such as Reds Hair, Labels, The Alma Inn, Westons Cider and principal sponsor, Moat Contracting.

Lorna Russell, from Ross-on-Wye based charity Hope Support Services, which has historically benefited from the Festival, and who received a substantial donation in 2018, talked about how the money has helped the charity with its valuable work.

Hope Support Services used some of the money to provide residential trips for young people, many of whom visited the beach for the first time.

Some of the other charities and organisations which benefit from the money raised at Linton Festival include Air Ambulance, St. Michael’s Hospice, Linton Village Hall, Linton Brownies, 1st Newent Scout Group and Linton Church

They introduced the exciting 2019 line-up and there were drinks and nibbles for everybody to enjoy, as well as live music played by local artists and bands.