The Mansel Arms in Porthyrhyd recently presented a cheque for £1484 to members of the Carmarthenshire Friends of Prostate Cymru group including Chairman Deryc Rees, Secretary Mike Dingley-Jones and awareness volunteer Andy Brown. The funds presented were raised over a period of a year in which Prostate Cymru, the leading prostate health charity in Wales, was the chosen charity of the pub. They are continuing to fundraise for the charity with collection pots at the bar.
The pub, under landlord Glynn Bennetts, held a number of fundraising events over the year including weekly bonus ball games and themed charity nights such as a Halloween Spooktacular and New Year’s Party. The popular themed events included buffet meals, live music, karaoke, charity raffles and fun games.
The Mansel Arms has recently won the 2019 CAMRA Wales Pub of the Year award. CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, is considered one of the most successful consumer organisations across Europe and has 215 branches across the United Kingdom. Founded by four real ale enthusiasts in 1971, the organisation now represents over 190,000 members nationally.
Having won the Welsh title, the pub will now feature in the Good Beer Guide 2020. The pub was recognised as a friendly and welcoming establishment which maintained traditional character elements from its former life as an 18th century coaching inn. Landlord Glynn Bennetts’ passion and knowledge of real ale as well as the in-house cask ale members’ club helped secure the accolade for the pub.
In addition to the £1484 kindly donated by The Mansel Arms, a donation of £75 was also presented to the Carmarthenshire Friends of Prostate Cymru by local authority Mynyddcerrig Community Council in support of the charity. The donation was made by Trevor Robinson from the community council.