Honiton Carnival supports more good causes

The re-elected chairman of Honiton and District Carnival gave away cheques to three charities during the organisation's annual meeting.Bill Austin revealed �100 each was being given to the Exeter Leukaemia Fund's newly established East Devon Support Group, Link Up and the British Heart Foundation."All three are worthy charities," he said.The donations are in addition to �1,481 already given to local groups during the past year.Mr Austin paid tribute to those who had gone out of their way to help the carnival committee over the past year, including the committee's secretary, Karen Wilson, treasurer Maria Austin, Jenny Allen, who had been as generous as she was invaluable, and local businesses, who had sponsored prizes for last year's circuit carnival.He also praised committee members and directors for their continuing support.Honiton Motel received a special thank you - for providing the carnival committee with a venue for meetings and the annual carnival awards ceremony.Reflecting on the current economic climate, Mr Austin admitted it was getting "harder and harder" to raise money.However, he was pleased that donations had only dipped slightly during 2008 and that sponsorship had been up."We purchased our own float for �500 and it was money well spent," he told the meeting, held at Honiton Motel last Wednesday night.The float, which carried Honiton's carnival royalty around routes across East Devon and as far afield as South Brent, had attracted prize money totalling about �300, which had helped to offset the purchase cost.Those who supplied the tractor and fuel, along with the tractor's drivers, were thanked for their essential input."We had excellent feedback from the Christmas carnival," said Mr Austin.The committee was re-elected with an addition - Pam Stamp, who attended virtually every carnival last year to help with the royal float. Her daughter, Isabel, is Honiton Carnival Queen.