Dorchester pub charity evening honours threesome

The Bakers Arms in Monmouth Road is holding a charity cheese and wine night from 7.30pm tomorrow.

The event is being held in memory of Sam Nesbitt and his sister Amy as well as fellow local and friend of the pub Yvonne Price.

Amy died from pulmonary oedema and pneumonia in February last year at the age of 36 and her brother Sam, 33, died less than three months later.

Yvonne recently lost her battle with multiple myeloma.

This weekend’s event will see the three dearly departed friends remembered by raising funds for three charities that they supported – West Dorset Diabetes, RSPCA Taylors Rehoming Centre and Dorchester Haematology Unit.

Organiser Alan Keel said: “We organised a similar event last year and raised over £1,100 between the 45 locals who attended.

“This year we’ve sold 60 tickets and are hoping to raise even more money.”

The event will see people enjoy wines from all over the world with special music from the country of the wine played between each tasting.

Each wine will be introduced and tasting notes provided.

There will also be a raffle on the night and Mr Keel has also some ‘improvised entertainment’ for guests to enjoy between the tastings.

He said the popularity of the event was clear as tickets were snapped up straight away and he was looking forward to a fun-filled evening in the name of a good cause.

Mr Keel added: “It’s sold out straight away, as soon as the tickets were available they were gone.

“We want everybody to have fun and raise as much as we can.

“It’s a really well supported event because not that many people go but we raise a lot of money.”

It is not the first time funds have been raised in Amy’s memory.

Last August her brother Matthew led a team of 12 cyclists who peddled over 400 miles from Gretna Green to Dorchester to raise money for the Friends of the Ridgeway Day services charity in her name.

The team, who were followed by Amy’s father Billy in a support van, raised over £6,000.