THE HARE and Hounds Inn at Bowland Bridge hosted a charity auction where people gave their time as well as their valuables. 

The auction happened on Monday 8 May, the day of The King's coronation assigned to helping out in the community. 

The inn raised £5,600 for Windermere Food Bank in the auction itself and after some direct donations to the foodbank via Gift Aid the charity received a total of £6,114.83. 

Simon Rayner-Langmead is one of the landlords of the Hare and Hounds.

He said: "We just really wanted to make something that would be all-inclusive. We just asked everybody to give up some of their time. Walking someone’s dog, baking a birthday cake for somebody. We had all sorts of things. We had some prizes that went for £20-£30 on the day - there was a big mixture.”

READ MORE: Residents congratulate best pub in Furness according to CAMRA

The inn has recently received praise from national newspapers. It topped the 2023 Times and Sunday Times list for best small hotels. Simon Rayner-Langmead and Andrew Black only took on the pub in August 2021. 

The pub has also received interest from the Guardian, the Financial Times, the Daily Mail and the Telegraph. 

One of the people who donated to the auction was Sunday Times journalist India Knight, who writes a weekly column in the paper and contributes to a beauty column in Style magazine. Her donation to the auction was the biggest-ticket item of the day.

Simon said: "She sent a box with her must-have products. I think that went for £220. Somebody offered a business consultation. There was a whole big range of things."

Simon called the weekend a success.

He said: "250 people turned up even though it was absolutely chucking it down with rain. [The coronation] was great it was one of our busiest weekends. We were up about 32 per cent on this time last year. It was a very successful weekend in general.”

Windermere and District Foodbank is based out of the Methodist Church.