Pub letter draw will end later this month

A long-running pub letter draw which has taken place for nearly 40 years and helped raise more than £100,000 to support good causes is to fold.
Brought to you by the Northumberland Gazette.Brought to you by the Northumberland Gazette.
Brought to you by the Northumberland Gazette.

The John Bull Letter Draw (formerly the Black Swan draw), in Alnwick, will cease after the game on Monday, April 25.

A statement from the Letter Draw committee and members said: ‘The letter draw has run its natural course. We would like to extend our thanks to all members, present and past, who have contributed to its success by willingly giving their time every Monday during this period.

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‘People’s invaluable help is greatly appreciated and it made sure the draw was the success it was. We would also like to remember our friends from then who are sadly no longer with us.

‘We have been fortunate to have had extremely accommodating landlords and landladies during the four decades and we give our very grateful thanks to the publicans of both the Black Swan and John Bull in Alnwick for all their assistance, again, sadly, some of whom are no longer with us.

‘At the Black Swan, Jean and Arthur Smart, Pat and Peter Giles, Sylvia and Brian Pinchen and Ann and Peter Munro, and at the John Bull, Sue Belcher and our current award-winning landlord, Gus Odlin.

‘Our thanks are extended to their staff during that time who willingly dealt with club matters on our behalf. The main thank you is to the draw entrants who entered letters, week-in week-out, and whose entry fees helped contribute to the Community Fund which was set up to help local charities, organisations and individuals in the immediate area.’

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The Community Fund has made donations ranging from £10 to £2,000 for almost every conceivable cause and has given more than £120,000 in total in the last 30 years alone.

The statement from the John Bull Letter Draw committee and members added: ‘Your small weekly flutter has made a huge contribution to Alnwick and its immediate area. Thank you all and good fortune in the future.’