VOLUNTEERS and supporters of Alton Beer Festival met at Wessex Arts Centre on Saturday to donate cash to charities benefiting from the summer’s festival.

The bi-annual festival, held in June, was the 27th since it started in 2002, and generated more than £11,000 for good causes. Twenty different charities received funds, many of which hadn’t received donations from the event before.

“A huge thank you to our sponsors Triple fff and Bourne Estate Agents, as well as the breweries whose continued generosity helps us to raise money for a diverse range of charities,” said festival trustee Louise Parker.

“In the last 14 years, the total given away from the Alton beer festivals has now reached £187,000.”

As well as the charities receiving their donations, the awards for the Summer Festival champion beers were announced. These are voted for by festival attendees and almost every beer or cider gets a few votes.

The champion beer this summer was from Chiltern Brewery, with its Chiltern Black. Second place went to Dancing Man’s Big Casino, while third place was a three-way tie involving Indigenous Brewery’s Ammo Belle, CrackleRock’s Crackerjack, and Dorset Nectar’s Elderflower.

The charities that benefitted from the summer festival are 613 Squadron (Alton) Air Training Corps, 8th Alton Scouts, Age Concern/Limes Day Centre, Alton Cardiac Rehab, Alton College Foundation Scholarship, Alton Community Centre Minibus, Alton & District Swimming Club, Alton Hockey Club, Andrews Endowed School, Holybourne - nominated by festival sponsor Triple fff Brewery, Broadlands Riding for the Disabled, Bushy Leaze, Challengers, Chawton Primary School, Four Marks Scout Group, Holybourne Village Hall, Medstead & Four Marks Rotary, St Mary’s Bentworth Primary School, St Michael’s Hospice - nominated by our 2016 sponsor Bourne Estate Agents, Treloars, and Vokes Lunch Club.

The next festival is on February 24-25 and tickets will be available in the new year. Requests for donations from future events can be registered at any time and are considered shortly after each festival, according to the organisers.