The fundraising achievements of a quirky festival celebrating all things hats has been praised.

Bridport Hat Festival has been recognised by the Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence at the University of Plymouth.

The popular festival, which is run entirely by volunteers and will take place on September 7 this year, has raised more than £5,700 for Brain Tumour Research and in recognition of this, former chairman Brian Atkinson placed two tiles on a wall of hope at the university. Each tile represents the £2,740 it costs to fund a day’s research at the university.

Mr Atkinson also attended a tour of the research centre, where he met Professor Oliver Hanemann, who is leading a team of researchers investigating low-grade brain tumours in teenagers and adults.

Mr Atkinson said: “As a member of the hat festival committee, I have had the privilege of helping to raise vital funds and awareness for Brain Tumour Research over the last six years. Fundraising has always been an important part of the festival, to give something back to the winder community.

“Alongside collecting donations at the event, which is held at the beginning of September, we encourage the people of Bridport to take part in the charity’s annual ‘Wear a Hat Day’ campaign. This is the perfect way to celebrate Bridport’s passion for hats while also supporting Brain Tumour Research.

“It was a honour to place two tiles on the wall of hope and to meet Professor Hanemann, to hear about the fascinating work taking place in Plymouth.

“I hope that our fundraising efforts will encourage others to raise money for this vital cause.”

Hugh Adams, head of stakeholder relations at brain Tumour Research, said: “Since the Bridport Hat Festival began, their support for Brain Tumour Research and our annual ‘Wear a Hat Day’ campaign has been invaluable. It has been a pleasure to attend this wonderful celebration of fun and creativity every year since.

“The fact that over this period, locals and visitors to Bridport have helped fund two days of high quality, cutting edge, scientific research into brain tumours is a huge achievement.

“We love being associated with the hat fest and look forward to this association continuing - as we say at Brain Tumour Research, it’s ‘hattastic’.”

Brain Tumour Research funds research at dedicated Centres of Excellence in the UK as well as campaigning for the government and the larger cancer charities to invest more in research into brain tumours.

The charity is calling for an annual spend of £35 million in order to improve survival rates and patient outcomes in line with other causes of cancer, such as breast cancer and leukaemia.

For more information, visit braintumourresearch.org