Huge crowds, great weather, brilliant organisation, and the show stopping appearance of the RAF acrobatic team the Red Arrows, combined to raise a record amount of money for Swanage Carnival to give away to local good causes.
At the Swanage Carnival presentation evening on Friday 26th September 2025 at The Mowlem in Swanage, an amazing £41,600 was handed over to more than 20 different charities and organisations.
All the recepients of donations, carnival volunteers, and supporters filled The Mowlem
Attracted thousands of visitors
The annual event took place over eight days from Saturday 26th July to Saturday 2nd August 2025 in Swanage, Dorset and attracted thousands of visitors to the seaside town.
Welcoming everyone to the presentation ceremony, vice chair of Swanage Carnival Neal Diffey said:
“This year’s carnival week was truly extraordinary. We were treated to an amazing carnival procession, world class performances including the Red Arrows and over 100 different events over the eight days and a sea of smiling faces that lit up our town.
“But beyond the fun and festivities, the carnival is, at its heart, a testament to the strength and unity of Swanage. It is a celebration of who we are – a community that comes together to create something magical, year after year.
“Tonight, we not only reflect on these special moments, but also celebrate the remarkable contributions made possible through the dedication of our 123 committee member volunteers, our faithful local businesses and sponsors who support us each year, and all of this allows us to generously support our 23 chosen charities.”
The Swanage Carnival volunteers with the bumper cheque for £41,600
Donations 2025
- Friends of MS Purbeck £1,000
- Friends of Swanage Library £1,000
- Swanage Linking Lives £1,000
- The Lexi May Trust £1,000
- Corfe Castle FC £1,500
- Herston Village Hall £1,500
- Mount Scar Cygnets Playgroup £1,500
- Swanage Cricket Club £1,500
- Swanage Skatepark Community Project £1,500
- Swanage Tennis Club junior fund £1,500
- Swanage Town & Herston FC £1,500
- Dementia Friendly Purbeck £2,000
- Girlguiding Swanage District HQ £2,000
- Lewis-Manning Hospice Care £2,000
- MYTIME Young Carers £2,000
- National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) £2,000
- Purbeck Parkys (Parkinson’s Cafe) £2,000
- Swanage Sea Rowing Club £2,000
- The Dorset Deaf Children’s Society £2,000
- Veterans Forge £2,000
Annual charities
- Swanage Community Defibrillator Partnership £1,500
- Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance £2,000
Chair’s charity
- Swanage Disabled Club £4,000
Emergency services donations
- Swanage Coastguard, Swanage Lifeboat, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, and Dorset Police £1,600
Total £41,600
The Red Arrows flew in over Swanage on the first day of the carnival
“Unwavering support from the people of Swanage”
Chair of Swanage Carnival Darren Strong, who is stepping down after his second stint of three years at the helm, said:
“Well, I think we can safely say this year’s carnival was absolutely fantastic! We had all the ingredients we needed starting with the theme that again the whole town embraced with decorated shop windows, we had the weather which was perfect carnival weather!
“We also had tens of thousands of smiling visitors that joined in and helped us celebrate a cracking week! Most importantly though we had the fantastic support of our lovely community who hosted our visitors with amazing hospitality and I’m sure at times with a lot of patience!
“Genuinely without the unwavering support from the people of Swanage who have to endure the disruption, the noise and crowds we really couldn’t host such an event, so on behalf of the entire committee we say a big thank you to the town.
“Of course, this year we can’t forget the amazing red arrows displaying across our stunning bay and town. As always, they were fantastic, and we must also say a big thank you to our anonymous couple who kindly sponsored the display…
“As this will be my last official duty as chairman before our AGM next week I’d like to publicly thank each and every red and yellow shirt for your loyalty and continued support, it’s been very much appreciated, thank you!”
Presentations
Swanage Coastguard representative Ian Brown, along with Steve Williams and Alice Haw from Swanage RNLI received£1,600 on behalf of all the emergency services from Swanage Carnival president Kevin Lyons (left) and Swanage Carnival chair Darren Strong (right)
Gail Taylor, Kerry Mawhinney and Sue Marshall from Friends of MS Purbeck received a cheque for £1,000 from Swanage Carnival president Kevin Lyons
Vice chair of Swanage Carnival Neal Diffey hands over£1,000 to Diana Edmonds and Cheryl Sutton from Friends of Swanage Library
Helen McDavid from Swanage Linking Lives handed £1,000 by Swanage Carnival secretary Kevin Langdon
Harry Smith and Steve Norman from Corfe Castle FC received a cheque for £1,500 from carnival president
Kim Gallagher representing Herston Village Hall was given £1,500 by carnival vice chair
Carrie Gelder from Mount Scar Cygnets Playgroup received £1,500 from the carnival secretary
Tim Ives representing Swanage Cricket Club was handed £1,500 from Swanage Carnival chair Darren Strong
Barry Mowson along with young skateboarders from Swanage Skatepark Community Project picked up £1,500 from the carnival president
Phil Stevens representing Swanage Tennis Club’s Junior Fund given £1,500 by the carnival vice chair
Roy Lock and Lizzie Hibberd from Swanage Town and Herston FC received £1,500 from the carnival secretary
Swanage town mayor Mike Bonfield along with Tim Lench, Barbara Hookway, Sue Plowman and Marilyn Butler from Dementia Friendly Purbeck picked up £2,000 from the carnival president
Jill Benwell and Catherine Wood from Girl Guiding Swanage District HQ were handed £2,000 from the carnival vice chair
Margaret Duckworth and Eleanor Papanicolaou representing Lewis Manning Hospice Care received a cheque for £2,000 from the carnival secretary
Hayley Walker and Katie Barnett from MYTIME Young Carers were handed £2,000 from the carnival chair
Peter Joyce from National Coastwatch Institution received £2,000 for Swanage and St Albans NCI stations from the carnival president
Steve Curtis, David Glynes, Beryl Mitchell, Ann Glynes, Nigel Aston, Cathy Wilcox and Trevor Owen from Purbeck Parky’s which runs the Parkinsons Café received £2,000 from the carnival vice chair
Martin Steeden and Kathy Hardy along with junior members Harry and Aeva from Swanage Sea Rowing Club picked up £2,000 from the carnival club secretary
Shirley Sorbie from The Dorset Deaf Children’s Society and Sam Thompson from Cumulus who nominated the charity, were handed a cheque for £2,000 from the carnival chair
Peter Woods, Pete Mewsikov, William Spicer, David Corbin, Sarah Crystal and Alexander Brown from the Veterans Forge received £2,000 from the carnival president
Dave Corben and Ian Brown from Swanage Community Defibrillator Partnership received £1,500 from the carnival secretary
Beryl Mitchell and Linda Hernandez representing the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance picked up £2,000 from the carnival president
Sue Payne and Virginia Payne from Swanage Disabled Club received £4,000 from the carnival chair
Watch Swanage Carnival 2025 highlights by Andy Lyons
Further information
- More about Swanage Carnival
