A whopping £9,000 and counting - that is the amazing sum raised so far for worthy causes at Honiton’s inaugural Sausage and Cider Festival.

Organisers of the event, which was held on May 3, have already started distributing the funds to charities and community groups in the area.

“It was our first attempt and was a learning curve but we raised a good sum of money for charity,” says Dan Lavery, one of the festival organisers. “The whole town benefited.”

The festival was organised by the Honiton Foundation to boost funds for Honiton-based charity Devon Freewheelers, who received a welcome donation of £4,000. The life-saving charity provides an out-of-hours emergency courier service to the NHS and transports important medical supplies including blood to hospitals.

A further £1,000 was given to community radio station Bay FM and £500 was given to martial arts club FSC Honiton Exeter Muay Thai.

Fellow event organiser David Foster added: “The idea of the festival was for people to have a great time and more importantly to raise money for our local community.

“We always hoped it would raise money to benefit the community and it was always the wish of the organisers to give the money away at the end of the festival.”

David presented a cheque for £250 to The Joe Gilson Mobility Scheme last Sunday. The Honiton scheme, which gives mobility scooters and aids to those in need, was founded by Carol Gilson in memory of her late husband.

She said: “I am so very grateful and I can’t thank people enough. I am amazed by people’s generosity.”

Plans are already afoot to hold a two-day festival next year. The day after this year’s festival around 230 people tried to buy tickets ready for next year. Organisers will be meeting with authorities, including the police, to discuss this year’s event.