MEDIA RELEASE

Six year old's cancer fight inspires Somerset Restaurant's Cream Tea appeal

The moving story of a six year old's fight with cancer has inspired a Somerset restaurant to fundraise on behalf of two cancer charities this Sunday, 19 May.  New Farm Restaurant in Over Stratton will be launching its annual Charity Cream Tea and Cakes in the gardens behind its award winning restaurant and is hoping for plenty of local support.

This year owners of New Farm Restaurant, Crispin and Jane Bond, together with Jane's sister Sue, have decided to donate money raised from their annual Cream Tea fundraiser to Macmillan Cancer Support and CLIC Sargent's Young Lives vs Cancer campaign.

The Charity Cream Tea and Cakes is an event that has become something of a staple in the calendar at New Farm Restaurant and was originally started in memory of Jane and Sue's mother. However this year, on hearing about the brave fight against cancer which their waitress's son Charlie had waged with the support of both Macmillan and CLIC, they decided to donate funds raised at the event to these two charities.

Crewkerne based Alice Howell, who started her working life at the restaurant 22 years ago before training as a teacher and then returning to the restaurant after having two children, explains what happened to her son - a story which began just a day after the last Cream Tea fundraiser held at Over Stratton.

Alice says, "Charlie had just turned six when, at a routine eye test, a swelling was detected at the back of his eye. An MRI scan quickly followed and just two days later Charlie was operated on in Bristol Children's Hospital. A further operation followed a week later and the cancerous tumour was removed." Although the actual diagnosis and operation happened extremely quickly, weeks of radio therapy and chemo meant recovery was a much longer process and although Charlie has now received the all clear, he has been left partially sighted and with hydrocephalus.

The support given by Macmillan, sponsors of a specialist neuro oncology nurse in Bristol who was with the family every step of the way and also that of CLIC Sargent which sponsored a specialist oncology community nurse based in Yeovil made a huge difference to the family. New Farm Restaurant says that one way it can show its thanks to both these charities for helping to support someone who has been such a fantastic help to them across the years is by holding the Cream Tea Fundraiser this Sunday.

Visitors to the Cream Tea event which is being held between 2 pm - 4.30 pm this Sunday can expect a combination of live music, delicious scones and cakes and even a prize raffle.

New Farm Restaurant recently won top accolades from Taste of the West acknowledging it as the Best Place to Go and the Best Restaurant in the South West and is open evenings on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 6.30pm. There are regular speciality evenings on the First Thursday of every month, Ladies Lunches on the Second Wednesday of the month, and brand new regular Friday lunchtime opening times plus the last Sunday of each month for Sunday Lunch. Details on: www.newfarmrestaurant.co.uk  or telephone 01460 240584.

For further press information, hi res images or to arrange to review the restaurant for your publication, contact: Jane Adkins, A Head for PR Ltd, E/: jane@aheadforpr.co.uk or T/: 01935 813114

APRIL 2019 (NFR 03)