Despite the rain Birch Hill's Summer Fete took place as planned on Sunday 1st July to raise funds for BEN.

The fete was officially opened by Annie Gumbleton who celebrated her 101th birthday on the same day. The crowds poured through the gates and were entertained by live music from the Tinkers, various stalls including the ever favourite tombola, the delicious cake and candy stall and an assortment of bric and brac. Also there was the customary BBQ and strawberry tea's to finish off a wonderful day and the final total amount raised was £1,495.

Nicola Hall, Birch Hill's Manager said, "We are extremely grateful to everyone who attended and hope that they all had a fabulous time. A special thank you must go to John Hankinson and Ian Hay for their help in contacting local garages & dealerships for prizes for our raffle and tombola stalls, their help is invaluable and we really do appreciate their help. A tremendous amount of work goes into the preparations for our fete and I really want to pay tribute to our staff, resident families and volunteers who helped make our fete the success it was and the amount raised will help our residents in times of need."