MORE than £2,000 has been donated to good causes in Ilminster and beyond thanks to the town’s carnival committee.

Money raised by the night has been handed out to 13 groups.

These include Chard Carnival Incident Fund, Ilminster Fire Brigade, Vaughan Lee Care Home, the local Brownies, Ilminster Football Club, Ile Youth Centre, the parish hall, Ilminster Citizen Dinner, the town’s Christmas lights, and Ilminster First Responders.

Other beneficiaries include St John’s Ambulance, the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, and the Warehouse Theatre, which is currently fundraising for an expansion project.

Bradley Amor, who is one of the members of the Ilminster Carnival Committee, said: “Each year Ilminster Carnival Committee use the money collected on carnival night to go towards ensuring the carnival continues each year.

“However, we also donate a percentage of the money collected to various organisations.

“Overall, this year we have given away £2,350 to organisations.

“We would like to thank everyone who donated to our collection at last year’s carnival and contributed to helping all of these deserving organisations.”

This year, the children’s carnival is set to be held on September 29 and the main carnival will be held from 7.15pm on Saturday, October 6.

Ilminster Carnival is part of the South Somerset Federation of Carnivals, which also consists of the Wellington, Chard and Taunton carnival committees.

Mr Amor added: “We are looking forward to this year’s carnival and with preparations well underway, we hope we can have another successful collection again this year so we can continue to help and support the local community.

“We are also looking for sponsors for this year’s carnival and if anyone is interested, please contact us through our email address ilminstercarnivalcommittee@hotmail.co.uk.

“We would like to thank Grinters, Minsterstone and Knights Electrical for sponsoring and supporting our 2018 carnival.”

Visit www.ilminstercarnival.co.uk for information.