AN ALE named after the daughter of two North Tawton publicans is boosting funds for a local charity. Burt and Claire Bolt, of the Railway Inn, have already raised almost £16,000 for the Honeylands Children?s Centre in Exeter and intend to keep going with the sale of Mya?s Ale, which is going down a treat among the locals. Two-year-old Mya has been visiting the centre, which helps pre-school children with all sorts of development difficulties, for a while and her parents wanted to give something back to the charity. Through the generous donations of patrons, friends and suppliers an auction at the Railway made £9,000 with more than 100 pledges on offer. One of them was a chance to spend a day with John Lawton at Teignworthy Brewery to create a special real ale named after Mya. Three brewers paid £740 for this unique opportunity and as a result Teignworthy Brewery and the Railway are donating 5p and 10p from every pint sold to Honeylands. The proceeds from the auction, plus other events, have raised £15,800 for the cause. Claire, who has run the pub with her husband for 17 years, said she was overwhelmed by the response of local people. ?It still brings tears to my eyes when I think about it,? she said. ?It was unbelievable ? people just kept turning up to the auction and putting money in the bucket. ?We have been at the pub a long time so I think that helped because a lot of people know us, but also the publicity we sent out and the Honeylands charity struck a chord with people ? mums, dads, grandparents and parents-to-be. ?Honeylands is a wonderful place and so many families around here have used the centre. They see 90 children each week varying from those with no diagnosis to children with cerebral palsy and Down?s Syndrome. ?We would like to say a tremendous thank you to everyone who donated pledges, bought pledges or helped in any way to raise this fantastic sum.?
