Last weekend, the Beach Lawns in Weston-super-Mare once again played host to the Weston Lions Charity Real Ale & Cider Festival — and as always, A Squared Technologies was proud to be right in the thick of it, sponsoring, volunteering, and celebrating another brilliant weekend for the local community.
We’ve been sponsoring and attending the festival for over a decade now, and it’s fair to say it’s become one of the highlights of our summer calendar. But this year, as every year since she joined, our Managing Director Kate wasn’t just there as a sponsor — she was there as an active member of the Lions Club of Weston-super-Mare, rolling her sleeves up long before the first pint was poured.
Weeks in the Making
What most festival-goers don’t see is just how much work goes on behind the scenes long before the marquee goes up. Kate spends many weeks in the run-up to the festival helping organise the rota of volunteers, overseeing the event’s finances, and supporting her fellow Lions with all the logistics that make a weekend of this size possible — from sponsors and suppliers to signage and set-up.
Then, when the weekend itself arrives, Kate is there from the Thursday night Charity Dinner and Race Night in the festival marquee, all the way through to close on Sunday evening — a proper marathon of volunteering, not a sprint!
She wasn’t out there alone, either. Victoria and the rest of the family also joined in across the weekend, lending a hand wherever it was needed — whether that was on the sponsors’ and drinks tokens table, helping keep the queues moving, or simply being an extra pair of hands for the Lions when things got busy.
A Weekend for the Community
As ever, the festival brought together locals and visitors alike for three days of locally sourced ales and ciders, live music, and that unmistakable community spirit that’s grown up around the event since it first began back in 2008. Watching the Beach Lawns fill up each year is a brilliant reminder of just how much this festival means to Weston-super-Mare.
This Year’s Beneficiaries
The whole point of the weekend, of course, is raising money for good causes — and this year’s chosen charities were:
- Dementia UK
- Children’s Hospice South West
- Weston General Hospital League of Friends
Every pint sold, raffle ticket bought, and token spent over the weekend goes towards supporting the vital work these organisations do for families across our region.
A Festival with a Huge Legacy
This year marked the 17th year of the Real Ale & Cider Festival, and its impact on the local community over that time has been enormous. Since it began, the festival has raised well over £390,000 for charities, clubs, and good causes — both local and national — none of which would be possible without the Lions, the volunteers, the sponsors, and everyone who comes down to enjoy a pint (or three) in the name of charity.
Over the years, the festival’s beneficiaries have included a huge range of causes close to the hearts of the local community, among them:
- Weston Hospicecare
- Great Western Air Ambulance
- Diabetes UK
- North Somerset Carers Support
- Go Kids Go!
- Pancreatic Cancer UK
- SANDS
- Crossroads Young Carers
- RNLI
- Parkinson’s UK
- Mind
It’s a genuinely impressive list, and a great illustration of just how far a weekend of good ale, good cider, and good company can go when a community pulls together behind it.
Looking Ahead
A huge thank you to the Lions Club of Weston-super-Mare, all the volunteers, sponsors and everyone who came down to the Beach Lawns to support this year’s festival. And a special thank you to Kate, Victoria and the rest of the A Squared family for once again giving up their weekend for such a fantastic cause — we’re already looking forward to next year!
