A Tywyn Fundraising group has raised over £2000 for hospice charity, Tŷ Gobaith.

The Tŷ Gobaith Tywyn Friends Group organised for a full train worth of people to travel along the Talyllyn railway to attend what they called a Midsummer Steam and BBQ event at Abergynolwyn station.

The event saw a full train of 97 people travelling from Tywyn’s wharf station to Abergynolwyn, where they were treated to a barbecue and live music performed by local musician and instrument repair company Totaleigh Music.

A raffle was held with 36 prizes donated from a variety of local businesses, including a night for two at a shepherd’s hut and vouchers for local restaurants and shops.

This is not the group’s first fundraising event, but organiser Anita Inman said it was 10 times bigger than any event the group had set up before. The event raised £2,281.45 for the Tŷ Gobaith Hospices.

Mrs Inman continued, saying: “We wanted to raise as much funds as we could and raise the profile of the hospices. It’s a lovely cause.

“I volunteer at Talyllyn railway, they had no hesitation taking part and donated the train for the event. We were sold out!

“We started organising this in March, it was great to see it all come together and go so smoothly. It’s for such a worthy cause.

“It’s been a real effort on the part of Tywyn – even the people who didn’t attend the event or take part in the raffle were stopping to pass us £20 notes to add to the donations.

“Without the community’s generosity, we wouldn’t have been able to raise this money for Tŷ Gobaith Hospices.”

Tŷ Gobaith Tywyn Friends Group formed 16 years ago with the aim of fundraising for the Children’s Hospice Friends of Group.

Mrs Inman joined the group a few months before the pandemic. She said it allowed her to integrate herself in the town just in time to build a strong support network for when everything closed down during lockdown.