Abby’s Heroes’ pub quiz raises £750 to help families dealing with cancer

Local charity Abby’s Heroes can help more families with children affected by cancer, thanks to a sold-out pub quiz at the Sir Joseph Paxton pub which raised £750 on Wednesday night.

The Titchfield pub was decorated with ghosts, skeletons, witches’ hats and cobwebs and was the perfect venue for the pre-Halloween charity quiz, hosted by Nation Radio’s Gary Parker. His Halloween-themed questions and a ‘One Hit Wonders’ music round kept the 18 teams guessing and it was an exciting finish with just half a point separating the top three teams at the end of the quiz.

Quiz host, Gary said, “The Halloween theme is always fun, and everyone was in good spirits! Having just half a point between the teams in first, second and third place was really exciting, and we also had sweets for the losing team.

“Raising £750 for Abby’s Heroes was fantastic as it's a great charity and they help so many local families at a difficult time. The pub landlord, Dave Roseby, supported them last year with his Three Peaks Challenge and this is my third quiz for the charity, taking our combined total to £5,737. Some of the money has already provided pizza and ice cream to families in Southampton Hospital which was a real treat for the whole family.

“I’m really happy to support Abby’s Heroes again as simple things like sharing food together and having fun can make a big difference.”

Money raised included £240 from entry fees and £510 from the raffle and additional donations. David Fawcett, Community Fundraiser for Abby’s Heroes said, “We’d like to thank Dave and Vicky Roseby for donating roast dinners at the pub and Waitrose, JD Hopkins, Tesco, Charity Jams and Amparo Lounge for donating more raffle prizes – their generous donations more than tripled the amount raised - and we want to thank everyone who bought raffle tickets too.

“It was a great night, and the money will help children who are being treated for cancer at Southampton Hospital and their families. It's always lovely to see the smiles on their faces when we arrive with our treats, and we are really grateful to Gary and the team at the Sir Joseph Paxton pub for all their support.”

Charity Mascot, Abbycorn visited the pub before the quiz and a unicorn was included as a raffle prize too. Unicorns are said to have magical powers and the magic in this case happens when Abby’s Heroes turns the money raised into help for local families.

Gary Parker has raised almost £50,000 for various charities over the years and is set to raise £10,000 from charity pub quizzes this year. He hosts a weekly quiz at the pub and details of his future charity quizzes will be shared on the website and social media channels – a different charity is chosen each time.