Crantock Bale Push

The Big Bale Push at Crantock - “You don't have to be mad to take part, but it certainly helps”

WHERE IT ALL STARTED….. The concept of the Bale Push in Crantock came from the seed of an idea which grew and grew! Farmer Chris Eustice discussed it with a few locals in various hostelries - The Treguth and The Old Albion to name but two. The seed was sown and Chris harvested the idea, baled it and discussed it with John Richards who immediately saw its merits! A fairly hilarious Test Push was organised and four local gentlemen, namely Kittsy, Casey, Millsy and Tim Eustice formed a team. Assisted by flag-waving Jim Hardy and with Chris Eustice the mobile marshal directing proceedings, and alerting any unsuspecting passers-by, a Push was achieved around the proposed circuit..........!

Three weeks later with the valuable assistance of local sponsors and supporters BIG BALE PUSH 2000 was organised. That first event raised over £800 for Halwyn Parc and Crantock had a new annual local fundraising event and the rest is history!

The manner in which the original event has grown that has surpassed the expectations of its founder members and the money raised by the event now exceeds £59,000 and we are now in our fifteenth year and our event has gone from strength to strength. Much of our revenue is provided by the 130 individuals and companies who sponsor and advertise in this Magazine [we are hugely grateful to them]. However, this figure does not include the monies raised during the evening by the organisations that have their stalls on site or the monies raised by individual teams who have been sponsored to take part. Besides providing an enjoyable evening for all concerned; the evening does have serious intent and that is, of course to raise money to support others within our local and wider community.

Since 2000 we have supported more than 40 different organisations making donations to them ranging from £100 to over £3000. Each year the selection of organisations to support is very difficult and many hours are spent deliberating over which worthy causes to adopt. This year the Committee has selected Macmillan Cancer Support, Crantock Church Roof Fund, Cubert School Football Team and Crantock Memory Café. One of the stipulations for the organisations who receive our support is that the money they receive must be used to provide support the people who live in Cornwall.