A special charity fishing auction in Tenby, in memory of local Christopher ‘Faddy’ Thomas saw hundreds line the streets of the seaside town to remember the man who loved nothing more than to be out in his boat catching bass. Two annual memorial events to raise money in memory of Faddy were set up earlier this year, following his sad passing last summer - combining the two things that he loved in life the most - rugby and fishing. With the memorial named the The Kick and Catch Tenby - a successful charity/memorial rugby match was staged at Heywood Lane on Easter Sunday. On Sunday, July 13, it was the turn of the fishing competition, which will took place at the The Hope & Anchor. Uo for grabs were prizes for: Heaviest Bass; Heaviest bass by junior rod holder; Best species landed. All catches were auctioned and sold to the highest bidder, with special prizes donated by VIPs and local business owners. The weigh-in, auction and raffle, along with live entertainment - drew in large crowds on a sunny Sunday evening, with such a large attendance expected, that a road closure was put in place for Tudor Square and St Julians Street, up until 10.30 pm, on the evening. The two prizes for ‘Heaviest Bass’ and ‘Heaviest Bass by a junior rod holder’ were both won by eleven-year-old Billy Thomas who won a total of £250 and a specially made trophy for this inaugural event. The £250 prize was given/sponsored by Nad’s Pembrokeshire Cleaning Services and the trophy was made by Trevor Millward. Billy very kindly donated £100 of the prize fund back into the charity. The heaviest fish was bought by Matt from Bamboo Tenby for £200 which was put back into the pot and put up for sale again and then bought by APH Maintenance Services for a further £200. “We want to say thank you to everyone who has donated prizes, sponsored money, bought raffle tickets and merch, spent money at the auction and shown support for the charity over the last few months,” said the organisers of the Kick and Catch, who also offered a shout-out to main sponsors - The Hope & Anchor; Coors; Tenby United RFC; The Pembrokeshire Marketing Co; Harbwr Broughton Leisure; and the Gavin Griffiths Group. With the auction practically taking place on his doorstep, Tenby resident Nicky Lloyd said what a ‘magnificent’ occasion it was. “Tonight’s Kick and Catch event at the Hope and Anchor was magnificent and Faddy was in every fibre of proceedings, right from Butch opening with ‘Country Roads’ through to a wonderful, and inspired, set from Mike Jones, and a heartfelt ‘Zombie’ from Robbie Price,” he remarked. “Tonight was Tenby at its stellar best, remembering those that we loved and missed. I love this town so much, I bought Bass in the auction and I met beautiful people from a lifetime ago!”
