Lads’ pub crawl leads to £3.5k boost for children’s charity

22-Jan-2020 - Last updated on 22-Jan-2020 at 16:12 GMT

Charity crawl: a 12-stop boozer trail turns into a charitable event as a group of lads raise money for children in need

A group of young men tackled a 12-stop pub crawl while simultaneously raising £3,561.94 for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH).

Formerly a Christmas Eve tradition, four years ago James Pryor and his 20 friends decided to go a step further with their annual pub crawl around Burwell, Cambridgeshire, and raise money for charities.

‘The 12 Stops of Burwell’ has since become a popular village event and the children’s hospices charity was chosen as the recipient of funds raised during Christmas 2019.

Pryor said: “This event has become all about the community and how they band together for such a great cause. To wake up on Christmas Day, have a glass of Buck’s Fizz and count coins totalling all the money raised by a great group of friends and an amazing community is a new and incredibly rewarding tradition.

“The work EACH does is heart-warming. There’s nothing worse than a parent losing a child or not being able to protect their children. Supporting a charity like this over the festive period means people can really help some great kids and, importantly, their whole families going through difficult times.”

Santa selfie

It involves Pryor dressed as Santa with his comrades wearing Christmas jumpers making their way through stops such as the Anchor, the Fox and Five Bells (all in Burwell, Cambridgeshire), that were expecting the charitable crew, while rattling collection buckets and offering other pubgoers the chance to have a selfie with Santa.

EACH Cambridgeshire community fundraiser Bronte Graver said: “This is an example of community fundraising at its best, with the initiative of a few villagers receiving such great backing from the rest. Massive thanks to James and his friends for choosing to donate to us this year.

“We rely on voluntary donations for the majority of our income, so support like this is invaluable. The amount raised is quite fantastic and will help us continue providing vital care to children and young people with life-threatening conditions across Cambridgeshire and the rest of the region, and support to their families.”