Second Mid Cheshire Charity Scooter Rally draws thousands

The second Mid Cheshire Charity Scooter Rally and Beer Festival rolled into Blakemere Village from Friday to Sunday, with numbers well up on the first year.

Organised by the Rotary Club of Northwich Vale Royal, this year’s event was a fundraiser for the North West Air Ambulance Service, The Children’s Society, the Multiple Sclerosis Society and Parkinsons UK.

Tim Henshall, from the Rotary Club of Northwich Vale Royal, said: “I did a quick count on the Saturday night, only by eye, but I would have said there were between 3,000 and 3,500 there.

“Everything went wonderfully well and there was no trouble at all.”

He added: “One of the traders insisted on giving us a deposit for next year to make sure – they really want to come back.

“All the traders said they did tremendous business, they were absolutely over the moon.”

The run-up to the event did not go quite as smoothly as organisers would have hoped when Rudie and the Revolvers, the band they had lined up for the Saturday night session, were forced to cancel due to family bereavement.

They were replaced by Moses, who stepped in at the last minute.

Tim said: “My highlight of the weekend was the band that stood in.

“Having one or two days to find someone was a bit worrying but they were absolutely fantastic, they really were superb.

“I put a post on Facebook to find a stand-in and had 2,643 posts back again, that’s how we managed to get someone so quick and that’s the power of social media.”

Scooterists camped at Blakemere Village for the weekend, with the camp site car park full to capacity and overflowing into the public car park at the centre.

Unfortunately nobody won the Roll a Dice competition for a customised scooter, which will now be sold by Gary Maguire, from M&M Bodyshop, who will make a new scooter for next year’s event.

The Rotary Club of Northwich Vale Royal expects to announce how much the event raised within the next few weeks.