PLEASE could I say a big thank you to everyone who supported or attended the Bolton Beer Festival held at the Howcroft Inn.

The four day event was a tremendous success, and will raise in excess of £15,000 for Bolton Lads & GirIs Club. Every penny will be spent on the youth of the town. Surely there can be no better investment.

Here are some interesting statistics behind the festival:

Exactly 100 companies were involved in some form of sponsorship this certainly contradicts some of your recent correspondence, which suggests Bolton companies are a 'bit shy' when it comes to supporting local charities.

4,100 people attended over the four days and enjoyed music, food and a choice of 200 different beers.

We had visitors from Bournemouth, Hereford and Edinburgh, and together they drank

-- 14,400 pints of beer

-- 5,460 bottles of lager

-- 560 pints of cider

All the staff behind the 30 metres of bar were volunteers. In total 1,450 hours of voluntary 'bar stewarding' was donated.

During the four days various musicians performed 15 different renditions of 'The Fields of Athenry'.

Perhaps the best thing about the whole festival was the wonderful atmosphere and the sound of 4,100 people having a great time.

Finally our thanks go to Clive Nightingale the landlord of the Howcroft, and the Dads and Kids Fund-raising Society who have worked tirelessly over the past couple of months to stage this great Bolton event.

R J Glover MBE

Manager

Bolton Lads & Girls Club

Montgomery House

Bark Street

Bolton