REGULARS at an Oswestry pub have been praised for raising thousands of pounds in memory of a friend.

Friends and family of Mark Rhodes, who was a regular at The Railway Inn in Beatrice Street – known as the Railway Tav – came together to raise more than £3,000 for Severn Hospice in Shrewsbury where he received end-of-life care.

Mark – who was known as Lukey – passed away in September 2022 and a year on, pub regulars began fundraising with the support of landlords Ally Beckett and Dave Lloyd to help raise the money.

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Ally admitted she was incredbly proud of the efforts carried out in the fundraising.

She said: “Thirteen months ago, on September 13 we lost our very close friend Mark Rhodes, known locally as ‘Lukey’.

“Sadly he ended his days under the care of Severn Hospice in Shrewsbury who looked after him until he passed on.

“We thought to remember him one year on and thought to do this, we would hold a charity event in his memory and raise some money for the hospice who we will always be thankful to for looking after Lukey so well.

“So we all joined together family and friends and set about getting this done with various events such as sponsored head shaves.

“We also had a domino knockout competition, a music quiz, and even a bit of karaoke.

“It was an absolute day of fun.”

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Ally said that Lukey’s family was ‘relentless’ in their work behind the scenes to get the event ready, and she also praised the businesses of Oswestry for collecting raffle prizes for the day with more than 30 prizes donated in total.

Ally added: “We would just like to give a shoutout to our customers who have supported this and dug deep to raise the money we did a truly amazing amount £3,142.

“They all deserve a rousing well done and thank you.” 

The event was held on September 2 with Lukey’s family recently attending the pub for a cheque presentation with Ally and Dave.