Massively popular Aldridge dog festival raised £4,000 for charity

The popularity of Dogfest 2022 shocked everyone involved with more than 1,000 people and pooches descending on Aldridge Acres Secure Dog Park sparking fears of parking chaos.

However, Terry Braid who owns the neighbouring field saved the day and the fundraising could continue with competitions, raffles, a doggy photo booth and t-shirt sales.

Stella Beards, from Aldridge Acres and one of the organisers, said: "No amount of meetings, intricate detailed planning, oodles of positivity and excitement and gargantuan ideas could have prepared us for 1,000 people to turn up on one Sunday in September.

"The cars and the people just kept on coming. With the dedication and calm traffic management skills of some of the amazing friends and family of the committee,and the abundance of patience and goodwill of all the visitors."

She added: "Having never done anything like this before and all of us on board purely for the love of dogs, a core group of women gave their time, effort and personal finances in abundance to ensure this event went with a swing to raise maximum amounts of cash whilst providing a truly wonderful community event where families of all ages, dog and non-dog owners alike could gather together and have a really fun day."

The three charities which benefited from Dogfest 2022 were the Border Collie Trust GB (£1615), The Liam Keeling Memorial Fund (Meningitis Now) (£1615) and The German Short Haired Pointer Rescue UK (£734).

Terry Braid, on behalf of the Liam Keeling Memorial Fund said, “First and foremost, we must thank Arran, Stella and the team for a tremendous effort in raising so much money for the chosen charities.

’The Liam Keeling Memorial Fund was formed in 2009 after the loss of 13 year old Liam to Meningitis. His parents, Andrew and Georgina asked for a committee to be formed in Liam’s memory in order to raise funds in support of Meningitis Now which has helped to fund research related to the prevention and ultimate eradication of the disease."

Stella added: "We achieved more than we could ever have dreamt. We cannot thank everyone enough for their endless support and positivity; local companies, individuals, small businesses, friends, family and of course all of the people who came along on the day for making this event happen.

"We thank you all and of course your gorgeous doggies from the bottom of our hearts for making the dream come true. We are now looking at the logistics of Dogfest 2023."