THE Bay View Inn in Bude is holding a charity swim event and auction to raise funds to replace those stolen from the premises a month ago, writes Ryan Cox.

Manager of the family business Hayley Keene opened up the premises early on Thursday, August 20 to find the doors had been broken into and plenty of valuable items taken, which included CCTV equipment and the entire cash drawer from the till — but the culprits also took the Macmillan ‘swear jar’, which was almost full of 20ps.

Speaking at the time, Hayley said: “It’s devastating. We’ve been here for ten years now running this family business and we work really hard.

“Its bad enough to take our hard earned takings, but to steal the Macmillan charity swear jar as well is really heartbreaking.

“It was one of the old Scrumpy cider jars and we’ve had people putting their 20ps in for a while. It was three-quarters full, and we reckon there must have been a good £700 to £800 in there. We’re gutted.”

All the staff at the Bay View Inn were upset by the theft and wanted to turn it into a positive way of fundraising to replace the money stolen from the jar.

So on Sunday, October 11, the Bay View Inn will be holding a charity event, where members of staff and their families will be swimming the six-mile stretch from Duck Pool to Widemouth Bay in the morning.

The day will continue at the Bay View Inn, with an auction where many suppliers and local businesses have donated prizes.

After the auction there will be singing in the Bay View bar area from one of Hayley’s closest friends, Geri, to end what is set to be a great day.

A regular source of singing entertainment at the Bay View, Geri has offered her services for free and said any money made from CD sales throughout the evening would also be going to Macmillan.

Macmillan is a charity close to Dave and Cherylyn Keene, the landlord and landlady, as well as the rest of the Bay View’s family and friends’ hearts and they hope for the support of the locals and beyond to raise as much as possible for the charity.