A special charity fishing auction in Tenby, in memory of local Christopher ‘Faddy’ Thomas saw hundreds line the streets of the seaside town to remember the man who loved nothing more than to be out in his boat catching bass.

Two annual memorial events to raise money in memory of Faddy were set up earlier this year, following his sad passing last summer - combining the two things that he loved in life the most - rugby and fishing.

With the memorial named the The Kick and Catch Tenby - a successful charity/memorial rugby match was staged at Heywood Lane on Easter Sunday.

On Sunday, July 13, it was the turn of the fishing competition, which took place at The Hope & Anchor.

Up for grabs were prizes for: Heaviest Bass; Heaviest bass by junior rod holder; Best species landed.

All catches were auctioned and sold to the highest bidder, with special prizes donated by VIPs and local business owners.

The weigh-in, auction and raffle, along with live entertainment - drew in large crowds on a sunny Sunday evening, with such a large attendance expected, that a road closure was put in place for Tudor Square and St Julians Street, up until 10.30 pm, on the evening.

The two prizes for ‘Heaviest Bass’ and ‘Heaviest Bass by a junior rod holder’ were both won by eleven-year-old Billy Thomas who won a total of £250 and a specially made trophy for this inaugural event.

The £250 prize was given/sponsored by Nad’s Pembrokeshire Cleaning Services and the trophy was made by Trevor Millward.

Billy very kindly donated £100 of the prize fund back into the charity.

The heaviest fish was bought by Matt from Bamboo Tenby for £200 which was put back into the pot and put up for sale again and then bought by APH Maintenance Services for a further £200.

“We want to say thank you to everyone who has donated prizes, sponsored money, bought raffle tickets and merch, spent money at the auction and shown support for the charity over the last few months,” said the organisers of the Kick and Catch, who also offered a shout-out to main sponsors - The Hope & Anchor; Coors; Tenby United RFC; The Pembrokeshire Marketing Co; Harbwr Broughton Leisure; and the Gavin Griffiths Group.

With the auction practically taking place on his doorstep, Tenby resident Nicky Lloyd remarked what a ‘magnificent’ occasion it was.

“Tonight’s Kick and Catch event at the Hope and Anchor was magnificent and Faddy was in every fibre of proceedings, right from Butch opening with ‘Country Roads’ through to a wonderful, and inspired, set from Mike Jones, and a heartfelt ‘Zombie’ from Robbie Price,” he said.

“Tonight was Tenby at its stellar best, remembering those that we loved and missed. I love this town so much, I bought Bass in the auction and I met beautiful people from a lifetime ago!”

As Faddy received ongoing treatment from the Bristol Heart Institute for many years, money raised from these events will go towards the Bristol & Weston Hospitals Charity (formerly Above & Beyond) which is doing great things to improve the health and happiness of every patient in all 10 of the UHBW hospitals.

The money you donate to Bristol & Weston Hospitals Charity makes a real difference to the lives of millions of patients who need and use our hospitals.

The charity goes above and beyond to transform patients experiences and their environments. They fund world-class tech, research and champion equal access for all patients.

Faddy’s friends hope that the funds for the Bristol Heart Institute, will help the charity to continue to make an impact and improve the lives of people as they did with Faddy.

They have aimed to raise a collective target of £5,000 from both memorial events.

You can also donate to the cause by heading here: https://www.justgiving.com/page/faddy-thomas?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL&utm_campaign=019