Smithy Bridge Methodist Church Grand Charity Fair

Smithy Bridge Methodist Church Grand Charity Fair
Organisers Norma Stokes and Hazel Harrison

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Smithy Bridge Methodist Church held their second grand charity fair yesterday (Saturday 11 October).

Charities at the event included the Alzheimer’s Society, Fairtrade, Rochdale Hedgehog Rescue, SSAFA Forces Help, Childminders, Lifeboats, Macmillan and Guide Dogs.

The fair gave charities the chance to raise money for themselves by selling items and goods from stalls.

Organiser Hazel Harrison said: “These days charities can find themselves having a tough time with the climate that we are in so we thought it would be a nice idea to get a group of charities together and let them use the premises to raise money for themselves.”

Every penny raised by the charities at the fair goes directly back to them with no costs given to the church to cover the event.

Hazel added: “It is part of our ethos to help the community and that is what we aim to do with this event.”

Hazel, who organised the event with Norma Stokes, was keen to follow on from the success of the inaugural event two years ago.

She said: “We did very well at the first event and hopefully we can repeat that this year. We have decided to hold them every few years but that is not set in concrete or anything.

“We have been really busy since we opened. We had people waiting to come in at 10am so we opened the doors a little earlier than planned and we have had people coming in ever since.”