AN Atherton pub is the toast of the town after raising almost £12,000 this year for The Christie — and it marks a one hundred year old partnership between the hospital and a leading brewery.

The Atherton Arms which is part of Joseph Holts, and is run by management team Steve and Janet Morris was thanked personally by the brewery’s CEO Richard Kershaw and Louise Hadley, Director of Fundraising for The Christie.

This year is the centenary of the Holts and Christie partnership which started in 1914 when Edward Holt helped raise £20,000 for pioneering radium treatment for cancer patients. This year Holts want to top £300,000.

And it was regulars at the Atherton Arms who dug deep to help them reach the target. It was thanks to:

  • Christine Gore who is undergoing treatment at The Christie who raised £900 from a sponsored headshave.
  • Frank Wilson who at 72, ran the Wigan 10K in less than one hour 20 minutes and raised 674.50.
  • Patrick and Graham from the band ASIS who raised £2,433 through two charity concerts at the pub.
  • Laura Hodgkinson who raised an amazing £6,342 with her fun day which was so popular they had to change the venue at the last minute. She has just been given the all clear in her cancer fight.

Mr Ksrshaw said of his customers: “They have done a fantastic job. We will be matching the total pound for pound taking the figure to more than £20,000.”

The £300,000 will pay for the Joseph Holt reception area at the new Procedures Unit being built next year.

Joseph Holt is a family brewer, which was founded in 1849 and has remained in the family for over five generations. It owns 126 pubs and restaurants in the North West and supplies Holt’s beers to over 190 venues nationally.