story by: DAVE KING

Bath Rotary’s Festival of Motoring, held in June, has raised £30,000 for local ​charities.

 It was the 11th such annual event which has become a fixture in the West of ​England motoring scene.  Over the past three years the annual show has raised ​£100,000 for charities, making it the club’s main fund-raising event.

The weekend show was organised by Bath’s two Rotary Clubs – the Rotary Clubs ​of Bath and Bathavon. The proceeds will be shared between the Great Western ​and Wiltshire Air Ambulance Services, St Mungo’s, a local homelessness charity, ​and Rotary’s own charitable trust.

Featuring a display of over 500 vintage and classic cars and motorbikes, plus ​several of the latest - and loudest - supercars, the show sold over 5,000 tickets to ​the public.

Festival Chairman, Simon Spalding, said: “We have several petrol heads in the ​clubs, so this is fun for us as well as hard work. We’ve together raised a ​substantial amount of money for local charities, but also brought a lot of joy to ​people too: the Festival is a real family fun event.”

As well as the motor vehicles, the show featured live music on two stages across ​the course of the weekend. Two local sporting stars also came along to add to ​the glitz of the weekend: British swimming gold medallists Stephanie Millward ​and Sharron Davies, who presented prizes to award winners in several ​categories.

Signs for the Show are displayed around Bath and increasingly further afield, ​with spectators and exhibitors coming from across the south of England as well ​as south Wales.

Simon added: “Our show has built a reputation as a well-organised but relaxed ​event.  Exhibitors comes back year after year and enjoy seeing other vintage and ​classic cars.  And our music stages may not rival those of Glastonbury, but the ​enthusiasm of the performers is second to none!”