WITH about 70 stalls and more £2,500 raised for local charities, the Giant Christmas Charity Market at Petersfield’s Festival Hall was a festive hit.
The event organised by brothers Martin and Jeremey Holmes also raised £750 for the Portsmouth Hospitals Rocky Appeal for a £2.4m Da Vinci robot that can carry out precision keyhole surgery.
Appeal fundraising co-ordinator Mick Lyons was at the market to help bring in the cash and explain why the money was needed.
He said: “We still have to raise £770,000 to reach our target over the next 21 months to keep this fantastic robot. It is a lot of money but with events like this one we are getting closer all the time to our goal. A huge thank you to everyone who came to the market.”
Sunny but chilly weather brought in a steady flow of shoppers who supported stalls set up both in the main hall and Rose Room, with further tables on the stage and in the foyer.
Other locally based charities benefited too including Petersfield Open Air Swimming Pool which made £245 and the Help Palestine Community Co-op boosted its funds by £300.
Petersfield Music Festival took £150 and the East Petersfield Community Group made £166.50, while Brent Lodge Wildlife Hospital made £216 and Broadway Park residents Association came home with £117.
The Rosemary Foundation nurses raised £81.85 and Petersfield Diabetes Group were pleased with the £120 boost to their funds.
The Rowans Hospice had a stall in the main hall run by two friends from The Salon in Clanfield. The shop is celebrating 30 years trading and they wanted to do something for charity. Their tombola has given £50 towards the work of the hospice.
A number of local authors had stalls including Petersfield historian David Jeffery, musician Graham Jones and representatives of East Hampshire Writers.
Kay Peters from the Winton Players was also promoting their forthcoming pantomime Snow White.
Market organisers Martin and Jeremy Holmes thanked all who supported the event.