Every Penny Counted!

The generosity of the huge crowd which poured into Bridgwater for the annual Guy Fawkes Carnival Parade resulted in the donation of a mountain of coins and notes.

Following the big count almost £23,000 has been banked so far which will be shared between local charities as well as carnival itself who put their share towards the massive cost of staging the parade.

Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival Collection Director Jonathan Walter was delighted with the amount raised: “I would like to thank everyone who donated at this year’s procession for their immense generosity. We are proud to announce a grand total of £22,878.09. You may ask why include the 9p? The answer is that every penny is important. The donations help keep our carnival alive and are immensely important for local charities and good causes.”

The grand total includes £1,823.03 Text Giving, £2,000 Gift Aid in addition to all the coins and notes put in collection buckets and tossed into the collection carts.

“I thank all the collectors who gave their time to walk along the parade route to take donations and all the sweeper teams who followed the collection carts to pick up the coins which fell to the ground. I also thank the sponsors of the collection carts – University Centre Somerset, P Philips and Sons, HPC/EDF, Maxwells Accountants as well as Bridgwater Car and Van Hire for providing vehicles. 

“At a time when far fewer of us carry cash, it was heartwarming to see the determination of people to support us. It’s a win for local good causes and a win for carnival, now reckoned to be the biggest illuminated carnival parade in Europe and one that our carnival clubs can be very proud of,” said Jonathan.

It’s not too late to donate, either by texting BGFC to 70085 or by visiting our website https://www.bridgwatercarnival.org.uk and clicking the donate button. The date of our parade next year is Saturday 7 November.