WIDEMOUTH’S Bay View Inn charity fundraiser goes above and beyond expectations to replace the stolen cash taken from the premises two months ago.

Manager of the family-run business Hayley Keene opened up the premises on Thursday, August 20 to find the doors had been broken into and valuable items taken, including CCTV equipment and the entire cash draw from the till — but the most heartbreaking thing was that the culprits also took the Macmillan ‘swear jar’, which was almost full of 20ps, amounting to an estimated £700.

Determined to turn what was a terrible incident into a positive, staff at the inn set about organising a fundraising day on Sunday, October 11 to raise back the stolen charity jar money, and try to exceed it.

They got off to a great start before the fundraiser even got under way, with Bay View regular and family friend Glyn Collen raising just under £1,000 for Macmillan by taking part in Ironman Wales.

On the big day itself, things got underway at 7.30am, when three brave swimmers set off from Duckpool and swam the six-mile stretch to Widemouth by 10.05am.

Among the three were two members of staff from the Bay View itself, Molly Mees and Yazmin Allsworth — who are only 16 and 15 years old. They were joined in the water by the bar manager’s father, Gary Readman.

Bar manager Shane Readman, Tony Bonnick and Conrad Mitchell kayaked beside them, and family members followed the swim closely on land.

The day continued at the Bay View with an auction where many suppliers and local businesses donated great prizes. Among them were an overnight stay with dinner and breakfast at the Old Custom House in Padstow, a two-night stay with breakfast at the Bay View Inn, dinner cooked in your home by a local chef for four people, a Mikita drill set, a spa day at the Weir with treatment for two and £50 worth of taxi fares with Bayside taxis.

The bar area was then alive with music from one of Hayley’s closest friends, Geri, who was joined later in the evening for an impromptu jamming session by a man who had just stopped in for a drink — capping off what had been a fantastic day for the friends and family of the Bay View.

Hayley said: “The day was amazing and as a family we feel so very proud to be part of such a wonderfully supportive community.

“The sponsorship money is still being collected and 20ps are still being donated to our swear jar, however as it stands the day raised £2676 — one third of the day’s money will be donated to the Friends of Bude Sea Pool.

“We chose the sea pool because we wanted to give some money to a local good cause and we felt that the sea pool is an important part of Bude’s coastline.

“The charity swear jar is now full and we will now be running a ‘guess how much money is in the jar’ to raise even more money. The idea is that you pay £1 to guess how much is in the jar and the winner will take half of the guess the jar money and the other half will go to Macmillan.

“We are hopeful that the grand total raised will be well over £4,000, which is an astonishing achievement for everyone involved.”