THE Old Town Festival committee has presented a cheque for £1500 to Chloe Thomas of the GWH Brighter Futures Appeal to build a Radiotherapy centre in Swindon.

The centre was chosen as the charity for last year's festival and the public is now being asked to nominate a charity for 2016.

“The committee were so pleased to support this local worthy charity [Brighter Futures] that will aid a great many people in Swindon," said Josie Williams, chairman of the Old Town Festival.

"I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the committee for all their hard work in producing such a fantastic series of events last year and I have every confidence that they will do the same this year.

"They are a great team and freely give of their time to entertain the people of Swindon,” said Josie who is also community arts development officer at Swindon's Commonweal School.

Chloe Thomas, Brighter Futures Community and Events Fundraiser said: “We are blown away with the support from Swindon Old Town Festival.

"It was such a great event and we were so pleased to have been a part of it. The £1500 donations brings us closer to the £350,000 mark which makes such a difference to the appeal and helps bring cancer care closer to Swindon.”

Part of the money for the charity was raised by two special events in 2015. In June The Old Town Partnership of Churches celebrated its 46th birthday in the Bowl in the Town Gardens and raised £240.

The event featured a worship event on the Bowl stage, stalls, displays and refreshments. It was hosted by Godfrey Room, chairman of the Partnership, which includes Christ Church with St Mary’s, Bath Road Methodist Church and Immanuel United Reformed Church.

The coordinating committee was chaired by Daniel Pitt and contributions were made by the Partnership church leaders, choirs and congregations, Messy Church, uniformed organisations including Guides, Tai Chi and Thursday Fellowship.

An Open Gardens event was also organised by Mutsai Hove Bird. A total of six Old Town Gardens large and small were opened to the public.

As well as viewing the natural beauties of the gardens, visitors could sample craft stalls and refreshments resulting in £289 being raised for Brighter Futures, and a further amount donated to the charity Zhest, (Zimbabwe Health Education and Sustainability Trust ) which raises funds for schools in Zimbabwe.

Screaming Media and The Anything Swindon Magazine Owners Graham Worrallo and Ian Butler also added to the collection with a cheque for £200 saying: “We are very proud to support the Old Town Festival and the work that it does for local charities.”

The Old Town Festival dates for 2016 are Saturday, June 11 – 19. Booking is now open for stalls and food outlets and also for the parade on Sunday, June, 12.

Anyone who would like to be considered for a slot in the Commonweal Performing Art Marquee on Saturday 11 or Sunday 12 should email josie@commonweal.co.uk. Further info can be found on www.oldtownfestival.co.uk

Old Town Festival is a partnership between Commonweal School, Screaming Media, Swindon Advertiser, Drove Vets, 105.5 Community Radio, Swindon Does Arts and Swindon Borough Council.

If you would like to nominate a charity for The Old Town Festival to support send your nominations to: josie@commonweal.co.uk before Friday, February 19.