February 2023 saw the 32nd Bent and Bongs Beer Bash. Back then the festival had raised £486,922 over those previous 32 years.

We were all curious how the 2023 event would turn out. It was the first year back since the two missing years due to Covid. Would everyone still want to turn out on a winter’s night for the Bent and Bongs? Would we end up making any money to donate to local charities? Would the festival even have the same feel about it? Two years off seemed like a lifetime.

We shouldn’t have worried. Everyone came as though there hadn’t been any interruption and the event was a big success.

Once all the bills were paid and the trust had settled the accounts there was a grand total of £7,954 remaining to give away to local charities and good causes.

And this is the interesting bit. It means that total raised going into the 2024 beer bash is £494,876.

If we can raise the same again in 2024 this will be one heck of a milestone. It will take us passed the magic half million.

The money raised goes back into the local community. In 2023 this included:

• Supporting Atherton’s Proms in the Park event
• Supporting a local brass band to get them to a national final
• Buying a portable de-fib unit
• General support for Atherton food bank and additional help towards them buying a new van
• Funding a venue, coffee, and biscuits for coffee mornings to help dementia sufferers
• Helping with the costs of the Atherton Carnival
• Supporting the School Dinners initiative set up by the Atherton Business Partnership
• Buying new kits for local kids’ football and rugby teams, and …
• Helping these teams fix or replace their clubhouses
• Helping with the costs of the Atherton nativity parade
• And in addition to all the above we’ve helped to send so many scouts to so many different places that we’ve lost track of them (the places we’ve helped fund, not the scouts, they’re all present and accounted for).

So it’s onwards and upwards to 2024. The trustees’ wish you all a very merry Christmas. Thank you to everyone who helped make all this possible, whether by helping with the festival, sponsoring the event, providing specialist services, or just turning up on a cold midwinter night for a few beers and a good time. We couldn’t do this without you. Thank you.