All Photo Credits: Claire Richards
On Friday evening the volunteers of Swanage Carnival invited representatives from 23 organisations to accept a donation from the funds raised in 2023.
“A week of madcap antics“
Carnival chairman, Darren Strong opened the evening welcoming guests and giving a summary of Carnival 2023. Darren said “Well, what a week?
This year’s theme was ‘Under the Sea” and the weather certainly gave us a few challenges and sometimes it felt like we were under the sea! It became a worry as we began churning up Sandpit Field, and it’s safe to say we were not expecting the week to turn out as successfully as it did! But great credit and thanks to the dedication of our brilliant Committee and Friends of Carnival. We overcame the wind and the rain and delivered eight days of pure fun and entertainment!
With only four events cancelled out of the 108 events planned, which was a fantastic achievement in itself, and I am very proud of the whole Committee and Friends of Carnival for all the hard work and dedication they’ve shown to enable us to carry on! Obviously, none of what we do could be done without the constant support of our amazing sponsors, supporters and local businesses who really got into the spirit of carnival. With many shop windows decorated with the theme and of course our local community that always help us without hesitation and honestly without your support we really couldn’t do what we do! So thank you! Without all our volunteers, our sponsors and supporters we would not be here this evening to give away the fantastic amount of £27,650!
All the organisations receiving cheques from Swanage Carnival took over the stage at The Mowlem
Who got what from Swanage Carnival
- Coastguard / Fire and Rescue / Lifeboat donation: £650
- Going for Bust: £500
- The Lexi May Trust: £500
- Tyler’s Friends: £500
- Careline: £750
- Mount Scar Cygnets: £750
- Allsort’d: £1,000
- Swanage Cricket Club: £1,500
- Swanage and Herston Football Club: £1,500
- Herston Village Hall: £1,500
- Swanage Army Link: £1,500
- The Friends of MS Purbeck: £1,500
- Girl Guiding Swanage: £2,000
- Swanage and Wareham Rugby Club: £2,000
- Swanage Community Defibrillator Partnership: £2,000
- Swanage Disabled Club: £2,000
- Swanage Linking Lives: £2,000
Annual charities
- Swanage Stroke Club: £500
- Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance: £1,000
President’s charities
- Swanage Area Dementia Friendly Community: £1,000
- Memory Box Project in Poole Hospital Critical Care Unit: £3,000
Praise from the heart for all carnival volunteers past and present, delivered by Swanage Mayor Tina Foster
Every year, Swanage Carnival recognises members who have given 25 consecutive years of service to the event, and in 2023 Darren Strong himself reached that milestone and was presented with his 25-year badge for service.
Carly Hopkin received £500 for the Lexi May Trust which supports families who have children with a terminal or life threatening illness.
Dani Elm collected £500 from Swanage Mayor Tina Foster on behalf of Tyler’s Friends, which helps bereaved parents have a fitting funeral for their precious child.
Val Hodge received £750 for Careline, which supports vulnerable people living at home.
Carrie Gelder told the audience how £750 would help provide vital learning skills for pre school children at Mount Scar Cygnets.
Paula Kirk and ambassadors for Allsort’d collected £1,000 to help support adults with learning difficulties and autism.
Collecting £1,500 to support youth cricket in Swanage was chair of Swanage Cricket Club Craig Wells.
Barry Audley of Swanage Town and Herston Football Club will put £1,500 into building youth teams at the club.
Kim Gallagher told the audience how a £1,500 gift from the carnival will help to replace Herston Village Hall as it comes to the end of its life.
Swanage Army Link works tirelessly to keep the verges of Purbeck free of litter all year round and Pete Duncalf collected a £1,500 donation to support its work.
Nikki Holland collected £1,500 for the Friends of MS Purbeck which supports local families living with Multiple Sclerosis.
Collecting £2,000 on behalf of Girl Guiding Swanage, Val Burden told how the group creates a safe and fun environment for girls to discover their passions and talent.
Ian Brown told how Swanage Community Defibrillator Partnership had set out to bring four of the life saving machines to Purbeck – there are 42 and £2,000 will help support the network.
Daphne Saville was presented with £2,000 for Swanage Disabled Club to keep its two mini buses on the road.
Caroline Powell and Linda Hernandez received £2,000 to support Swanage Linking Lives, a charity with provides friendship and advice for lonely and vulnerable people.
Margaret Pratt and Pauline Dorland were presented with £500 for the annual supported charity Swanage Stroke Club which helps and supports stroke survivors in the community.
Linda Hernandez represented the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance charity, collecting £1,000 towards its running costs.
Mike Bonfield and ambassadors for Dementia Friendly Swanage were presented with £1,000 as one of the President’s charities to continue its outstanding work.
Swanage Carnival President Brian Norman presented Janine Golding of the Memory Box project with £3,000 for its work with bereaved families at Poole Hospital’s critical care unit.
Carnival is impossible without the support of all our amazing sponsors, supporters, volunteers, charities and of course, the local community who make the event the huge success that it is. On behalf of the whole committee, thank you to everyone, and we look forward to seeing you all again in 2024.