CROWDS turned out for a summer tea party held in Wellington and helped raise invaluable funds for charity.

The Emporium Somerset hosted the tea party on Thursday in aid of the Somerset Unit for Radiotherapy Equipment (S.U.R.E) – Beacon Centre.

Cato Cooper, co-owner of The Emporium Somerset, said: “We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who came along to the party.

“We’d also like to say a big thank you to Runnington Fruit Farm for the donation of strawberries for the event and Gundenham Dairy for the cream, which we served together in return for a donation to S.U.R.E.

"Our traders were wonderfully supportive as well, they donated the scones and brownies we sold too. The charity is still counting the money we raised on the night.”

Cato has her own painted furniture and home accessories studio and workshop at the front of the Emporium, as well as helping run the whole store, which includes 40 plus shops and thousands of lovely homeware and gift items, many made nearby.

Nicola Cavanagh, owner of The Flower Tree, which has a unit in The Emporium Somerset, hosted a summer wreath making demonstration with an emphasis on foliage and flowers from the garden so people could have a go at making their own at home.

During the event there was also a pop-up café for people to purchase teas and coffees donated by Café Works.

The traders’ units within the shop were decorated for the party and many of the traders were in attendance and chatted to anyone interested in their work or products.

Paul Alway, chairman of S.U.R.E, said: “We would like to say thank you to all at The Emporium Somerset for hosting this tea party fundraiser in aid of our cause.

"The support of people across Somerset enables us to ensure the Beacon Centre continues to provide top class cancer diagnosis and treatment.”

S.U.R.E is a registered, independent charity based in Taunton.

Its objective is to raise funds to help provide top class cancer diagnosis and treatment at the Cancer Centre known as the Beacon Centre at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton.

The charity has so far donated more than £1.8 million of equipment to the centre.

S.U.R.E is currently aiming to raise £500,000 by March 2017 to purchase a new Big Bore CT Scanner/Simulator to replace the previous scanner purchased by the charity.

The Emporium houses a collection of individual traders selling hand-crafted and Fair Trade products.

To find out more about The Emporium Somerset, call 01823 660076 or visit www.theemporiumsomerset.co.uk.