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Clay shooting jewellers raise £22,000 for charity

A record £22,000 was raised for charity when one of the North’s top jewellers hosted a glamorous clay shoot on the Duke of Westminster’s Lancashire estate.

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Around 250 guests turned out for the fifth Breitling at Banks Lyon Abbeystead Clay Pigeon Shoot, which was held at Abbeystead near Lancaster on Saturday, May 26 and saw nearly £15,000 worth of Breitling watches given away.

Organised by Lancaster and London events firm Samuelson Wylie Associates, with the kind permission of His Grace, the charity shoot welcomed teams of four from across the UK, with Preston men Simon Coakley, Rudy Coxhead, John Swire and Brett Winstanley taking first place.

The watches were won by Leeds-based team The Clay Preservation Society while Andrew McPherson of Holbeck Ghyll in Windermere won the tongue-in-cheek Fauntleroy Trophy for best tweed.

The day concluded with an auction that raised a superb £22,000 for the ABF The Soldiers? Charity as well as hundreds of pounds for Abbeystead Primary School.

Guests, including world superbike legend Carl Fogarty, dug deep for lots including a flight in a Breitling fighter jet performing an aerobatic display, diamond jewellery, VIP stays at the Michelin starred Holbeck Ghyll in Windermere and shooting days on some of the country?s finest estates.

Bentley Manchester, which was one of the sponsors, also auctioned off the use of a Bentley Continental for a weekend.

Sponsor Rodney Banks-Lyon, of Banks Lyon Jewellers on Church Street, said: ?The event has grown from a shoot to a real social gathering and each year it just gets bigger and better.?

?This year we raised an incredible amount for a cause that?s close to many people?s hearts. We?re very grateful to everyone who attended from across the country, those who gave so generously in the auction, and in particular His Grace and the tenant farmers who accommodate us so kindly each year.?

Lt. Col. Philip Aindow, North West Regional Director of ABF ? The Soldiers? Charity, said: ?As a charity we have seen the number of applications for support rise by 30 per cent over the past two years and by 2015 we will need to double our income to £14 million.?

?All of that money comes from donations and we?re very grateful for events such as the Breitling at Banks Lyon Abbeystead Clay Shoot, which was not only a splendid day out but raised a lot of money.?