The Queens Arms in Brixham
The Queens Arms in Brixham hosted cheque presentation which saw almost £6,000 handed over to a local charity. Landlord Chris Simmonds welcomed Annika Palmer and Keely Pierce, cofounders of The Last Kiss Foundation, to receive a cheque for €5,713, all funds raised from the Arlo charity beer and cider festival in December. The Last Kiss Foundation is a local charity, established in 2015, that supports families affected by the loss of a baby. It works with health professionals in maternity units across Devon to provide bereavement training. Various resources and specialist equipment. Mrs Pierce said: “The amount raised was phenomenal and we are so grateful to all of the team at The Queens Arms. It was a huge team effort and the weekend was amazing.
The support and generosity of everyone who participated, donated and helped in any way will really make a difference to families in Devon, and we cannot thank everyone enough. Miss Palmer added: “As it is just Keely and myself that run the charity, events like this are quite hard to achieve. We cannot get over the support and donations that have come in and the ripple effect it has had from this event, I have never felt or seen a community spirit like it.” The Queens Arms has been raising funds for charity over the last 10 years.
The Last Kiss Foundation was nominated as the pubs chosen charity due to Mr Simmonds’ own experience of baby loss in his family, and the festival was named the Arlo beer and cider festival in honour of baby Arlo. Customers and staff raised the funds through a meat draw, raffle, auction and collections throughout the three-day festival where 24 different beers and ciders were on offer and a variety of live music bands played. Mr Simmonds said: “This is an amazing result for an amazing charity. I am honoured the pub has been able to play its part in helping families affected by the loss of a baby. It is truly devastating and when I heard about The Last Kiss Foundation and the work it does, I knew this was the charity we wanted to support this year. I have to say a big thank you to all the team and the breweries too for making this happen.
