Gosport events raise thousands for charities

The Gosportarians have hosted a number of community events in the past year, such as Music Madness and the town’s Dog Show.

Through sponsorship and public support, the group has raised £17,000 for the mayor’s charities – Crohn’s and Colitis, and Headway.

Gosportarian Malcolm Dent says that the goal of the events isn’t just to raise money, but to bring people closer together.

He said: ‘From Music Madness we raised £3,000 and our fundraising sleigh at Christmas raised another £4,000. These numbers genuinely amaze me because I am not a fundraiser – I am just a community person putting on events in the town.

‘Everything I do is to put something on for people to come along and enjoy themselves.

‘If it makes money – as it has done this year – then that’s an added bonus and it is great to support charities at the same time.

‘It’s important for people to see the difference they can make just from being a closer community – that is what we’re all about.’

Now, Malcolm and the Gosportarians are looking ahead to the coming year – with events from last year such as the Dog Show and Short Story Competition set to make a return.

Malcolm said:‘The goal this year is really to get as many young people involved as possible. It wouldn’t be impossible for us to raise over £20,000 but that not the driving force for us, it is all about getting people together.

‘We have got a lot of things coming up for people and are really excited about them – hopefully as many people as possible are able to come out and enjoy them.’

The next event from the Gosportarians is the free Easter egg hunt in Stanley Park, at 10am on March 31.