Warwick's first PubFest helps raise more than £2k for mayor's chosen charity

The event, which took place across the August bank holiday weekend, saw 14 pubs join together to showcase the pubs in Warwick while also highlighting independent hospitality, beer, and community spirit.

PubFest also supported the Mayor of Warwick, Cllr Simon Pargeter’s chosen charity – The Graham Fulford Charitable Trust (GFCT).

The event has so far raised £2,404.53 and a cheque for this amount was recently presented to Graham Fulford from the GFCT by the Mayor of Warwick and the two landlords who started PubFest – Tim Maccabee and Adam Dudley.

Talking about the event, Tim, landlord of The Eagle and The Old Post Office said: “For a first year running the event, we were really pleased with the result.

“Warwick is a lovely town to wander around and features some smashing pubs full of friendly locals.

“Raising awareness of prostate cancer through the Graham Fulford Charitable Trust was a really valuable side-benefit of having a few hundred people wearing distinctive bucket hats visit our town over the August bank holiday weekend.”

Adam, who is landlord at The New Bowling Green added: “Every pub in Warwick has a unique character plus our own locals and we very much enjoyed meeting new customers from both Warwick and many visitors to the town.

“We're looking forward to PubFest 2027 already and we are sure it will be bigger and better than the first edition, which featured special offers, music and much fun.”

Councillor Simon Pargeter, Mayor of Warwick said: “PubFest was one of the highlights of the summer for Warwick.

“For weeks since, people have been telling me how much they enjoyed the event which showcased not only Warwick but also the important community role that our pubs play in providing a social hub for many people.”

The mayor added that although a cheque has been presented it is expected that more will money will be raised as sponsorship continues to arrive – with a forecast total of £3,654.53 expected to go to the charity.

The organisers of PubFest also already agreed to partner with the GFCT for the 2027 event to help raise more money and support for the trust.

The GFCT was set up by Graham Fulford to promote awareness of prostate cancer following the diagnosis of a close friend who died at the age of 58 and a close family member who died in 2007 from prostate cancer.

The trust provides PSA testing, which is a blood test that helps detect prostate conditions, including cancer. Over the years, the trust has been involved in testing thousands of men.

Graham Fulford said: “Prostate cancer is the single biggest killer of men of middle aged men and since we started the charity we've demonstrated not only the importance of getting tested but also the ease of arranging a test.”

For more information about the trust or testing events, go to: https://tgfct.org.uk/ or email: [email protected] or call: 01926 419 959.