The Friends of Cheltenham & District Samaritans are pleased to report that the final event in their twelve-month period as the nominated Cheltenham ‘Mayor’s Charity’, was a great success. Eighty people split into 17 teams, enjoyed a superb buffet curry night at the Everest Indian Restaurant on Portland Street, whilst taking part in a testing and entertaining quiz. Sadly, the Mayor, Steve Harvey, could not be present after testing positive for Covid-19, but Friends’ Chairman, Leigh Norwood, stood in for him to welcome the contestants for the evening.
Three rounds of interesting yet testing questions exercised the grey matter before the teams were invited to sample a wide-ranging array of Indian food: a variety of excellent, starters, rice dishes and breads accompanied by a sumptuous selection of meat and vegetable curries, ranging from mild to very spicy. Each of the serving dishes was regularly re-filled, with people encouraged to make multiple trips to the buffet if they so desired. During the break for food the teams were presented with a tough, but humorous, ‘cryptic picture round’ to complete.
Three further spoken rounds followed the food break, with the evening being rounded off by a thoroughly enjoyable final singalong music round of well-known hits from across the years. Following the draw for the raffle the points were totalled and the appropriately titled team ‘Korma Chameleons’ were presented with a £30 prize for their impressive score of 77 points out of a possible 90. Very kindly, the team donated their prize money back to the charity.
This was the first event in this format that the Friends group have organised in their 43-years of fundraising in Cheltenham, but it was so successful they are sure it will not be the last. Quiz organisers, Steve Rowbotham and Sally Lauri, were delighted with the amount of money raised, being particularly impressed with the generosity that everyone showed when buying tickets for the raffle which included some incredible prizes donated by many local Cheltenham businesses.
The Friends would like to thank all of the teams who attended, the various people who helped to set the event up and make it run so smoothly on the night, the individuals and businesses who donated such an incredible array of prizes for the raffle and, of course, Ash Hussain and his staff at the Everest for hosting us and putting on such an awesome spread.
The next event that the Friends will be holding is their Fifteenth Craft Beer and Cider Festival on Saturday 11th June at the Old Patesians Rugby Club in Leckhampton. For many years, this has been our primary annual fundraising event and after having to postpone it twice due to Covid-19, we are delighted to return with a wide range of craft beers, real ales, and ciders for this one-day festival.
As with previous years we are looking for local businesses to sponsor individual beers and ciders for the event. For a donation of £50 your business will get a mention in our programme and two free tickets to the festival. If you would like to sponsor a barrel, please contact Leigh Norwood via email at leigh.norwood@favouritebeers.com. Thank you.
You can buy tickets for our Summer Craft Beer & Cider Festival here: The 15th Cheltenham Craft Beer and Cider Festival Tickets, Sat, Jun 11, 2022 at 12:00 PM | Eventbrite
