A WHITCHURCH pub landlord has hailed the generosity of people in the town after raising £4,000 for a leading cystic fibrosis charity.

Chris Heap hosted the fundraising event in the Watergate pub on Sunday, February 12 along with Twiggy Sumner, Brian Sumner and Graham Swann in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

Initially, Chris raised £3,757, but an donor who wishes to remain anonymous came to his pub to give a donation in recent days and helped to take the total to £4,000. 

He said: "I could not have imagined when I moved down from Manchester, I would be moving to a place as generous as here.

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"The pub was absolutely packed and the atmosphere was electric. It was a really good day.

"The amount of businesses who offered raffle prizes was immense."

Some customers had their heads shaved as part of the fundraising bonanza.

Whitchurch Herald:

Chris explained how he opened at midday on the Saturday, but had been nervous as there were not that many customers to begin with.

He said: "I opened at midday, but it was quite quiet until 2pm. By 1pm, I wondered whether it was going to be busy. But by about 3.30pm, the pub was packed."

Chris moved from Manchester to Whitchurch in October, last year, and is pleased with the decision.

"It was a quite a big step moving here away from my family and being on my own," he said.

"It has made me realise moving down here was the right decision. The community spirit down here is great."

"I love my pub being community focused. It could not have gone any better."

Whitchurch Herald:

The Watergate landlord intends to hold a charity event in the pub every month and paid tribute to the businesses who donated raffle prizes.

Chris said: "I would just like to thank everybody, including local businesses for all their support. Without, their support the day would not have even gone ahead.

"It was nice and huge thanks to the people of Whitchurch who came out and supported it.

"We had quite a lot of people who couldn't come on the day, but still donated.

"I am extremely happy with how it went."