A MAD Hatter's Tea Party held in Tavistock Town Hall to celebrate World Mental Health Day on Sunday was well supported — despite objectors attempting to get the event cancelled.

Mental Health charities SURF (Service User's Forum), Make A Difference and Re-think hosted the tea party, but organisers were worried about a poor turnout, after someone took offence at the event's name and ripped down posters around the town.

Despite this, the Mad Hatter's Tea Party was deemed a success, raising around £1,100 for the three charities.

Claire Garrod-Pullar, founder of SURF, said the event went really well: 'Service users organised the whole thing and made the posters for it. I think there was only one woman who was offended. People all over the UK have Mad Hatter's Tea Parties — I think she was just particularly sensitive.

'It is a difficult time to raise money but we did really well and the money will benefit a lot of people.

'A lot of work went into planning the event but it was all definitely worth it.'

The Alice in Wonderland themed event saw visitors don elaborate hats and dress up as characters from the story while enjoying a number of stalls, a martial arts and kickboxing display and a concert in the evening.

Community mental health nurse involved in SURF, Jo Williamson, said: 'The atmosphere was brilliant. There was no trouble and no-one came to object.

'There was a very good turnout for the concert, with music from the Tavy Tars, Squandered Youth, Lizzie Spiers, Mike Grimshaw, Trademark, Ian Wood and Blaxton. It was a very worthwhile day — there was a lot of goodwill from the town so we thank them for that.'

Sandy Edney, founder of Make A Difference, said people were very generous: 'I think all the stalls did very well and the evening concert was very well attended we were delighted with that — all the bands played for nothing. We were pleased with the support more than anything, the objector didn't affect the event adversely.

'The youngsters from Tavistock College were wonderful. They worked really hard all day getting support and encouraging people to spend money. We've done really well and hopefully we will do more events as a team in the future — it's important to explain to people and show people what we can do even though we might have mental health issues.'

The money raised will hopefully be used to provide a trip away for members of the charity.

l Pictured above are some of those who attended the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, resplendent in their fantastic headgear.

Picture by James Bird