21/10/05 - Charity Fundraiser, Jovial Monk

All Smiles Landlady Sheila Cleary with three year old Louis White and Kerry Montague

Oliver Cleary's fundraising nights are so popular that a dozen of his former customers are travelling more than 600 miles to help him raise money for charity.

Oliver, who runs The Jovial Monk at St Andrews's Ridge, is holding a charity night this Saturday to raise funds for the Swindon Down Syndrome Group.

Oliver and Sheila Cleary moved to Swindon from the north east more than eight years ago but his old regulars at The Oak Tree in Bowburn, near Durham, have kept in touch.

Mr Cleary said: "They called me to ask me whether they could come and take part in one of our regular fundraising nights.

"So we decided to raise money for Down's Syndrome, as we have two regulars who suffer from it."

At least 12 of the Durham locals plan to make a weekend of it. They will be staying at The Jovial Monk and mingling with customers over Friday and Saturday night.

The last time the Durham regulars came down was when Mr Cleary took over The Plough at Fairford.

Mrs Cleary said that this was not the first charity event the couple had run.

"We have collection boxes at the bar all the time for all sorts of charities.

"This is the first time that we have done a charity night for Down's Syndrome but we have another charity night coming up in December."

Mr Cleary said: "It's going to be wonderful getting my new and old regulars together.

"We're looking forward to a great party in aid of a most deserving cause."

Carly White, 32, who regularly takes her three-year-old son Louis, who has Down's Syndrome, to the pub, said: "The pub does absolutely loads for the Down's Syndrome charity.

"They have a box that they keep on the bar that gets filled up immediately.

"They have been wonderful for the charity and it's such a good cause.

"The charity supports speech therapy for children in Swindon and organises summer events. It is a huge help."

Cllr Justin Tomlinson, "The Jovial Monk is an excellent local community pub, and I hope local residents will support this fund raising evening."