The award-winning SEAFEAST – The Dorset Seafood Festival – took place this September 2022 and raised £6,000 for The Fishermen’s Mission, to date the Festival has raised almost £90,000 since it began. The Fishermen’s Mission is the only fishermen’s charity that provides emergency support alongside practical, financial, spiritual, and emotional care. The charity helps all fishermen, active or retired, and their families. The infamous ‘Fish Auction’ is integral in raising vital funds, and this year had the incredible addition of two unique Miraval jeroboams.
Over eight thousand people attended SEAFEAST, The Dorset Seafood Festival, watching chef demos, devouring delicious local seafood, sampled the delights of Miraval, Badger Beer & English sparkling wine and learnt about responsibly sourced seafood and ocean health.
Duncan Lucas, Albert (Fishermen’s Mission), Emilie Blanc (Miraval), Mr & Mrs Underwood
Fishing continues to be the most dangerous peacetime job in the UK and therefore funds raised for The Fishermen’s Mission are vital. Duncan Lucas hosted the Fish Auction with enthusiastic passion and was instrumental in drumming up contributions to the charity. Miraval had two unique jeroboams designed with a custom illustration on each bottle especially for the Festival. A jeroboam is typically 18″ in height and 5” wide. It contains the equivalent of 4 standard bottles of wine! These were auctioned off and the two lucky winners made big contributions to the fund. Tim Underwood from Berkshire had a winning bid of £335. Tim and his wife made the trip to the Festival in their boat, it was their first time but their son-in-law comes every year. Richard Beggs from Weymouth was the other highest bidder on the Sunday, his bid was for £280. Richard went to school in Weymouth, had a catering career in London before finally retiring back to the Dorset coast. Richard is a huge fan of the Festival and was looking forward to taking his jeroboam to The Crab House Café to enjoy as the sun sets.
Tim Underwood commented: “It’s our first time at this brilliant festival, but not our last! The quality of the chefs and wines are incredible. Our day was topped off with buying this huge bottle of Miraval, I am so happy to support the Fishermen’s Mission which is an imperative charity.”
Stuart Cooper, Festival Director, commented: “At the heart of the Dorset Seafood Festival has always been The Fishermen’s Mission and we are delighted to present the charity with another cheque to help fund the all important work the incredible team do. We would like to pass on huge thanks to everyone involved in helping us deliver another great event this year!”
Dean Lawrence – Corporate Partnerships Manager at The Fishermen’s Mission, commented: “The support we have received through the festival is very humbling, it’s not just the incredible funds raised but the awareness it creates for the Charity and the fishing industry as a whole, we are very fortunate to have such strong friends in the festival organisers, stall holders and visitors”.
Mark Woodhouse, Family Director at Hall & Woodhouse, commented: “We are long-standing partners of the Dorset Seafood Festival, so we were thrilled to be able to continue our support of this major event to help raise crucial funds for the Fishermen’s Mission charity. Weymouth Harbour is deep-rooted in our company history as it is home to our very first pub, The Ship Inn, which we bought in 1854. The Seafood Festival celebrates Dorset’s inseparable links with the sea and its fishing communities, something which we recognise and champion ourselves as a business. Well done to everyone who contributed to raising such a phenomenal amount for such a worthy cause.”
The winners of this year’s Festival Sustainability Awards, judged by Sam Fanshawe from Blue Marine Foundation and Nigel Bloxham, chef/proprietor of The Crab House
Delicious dishes, responsibly sourced!
Joint Gold: Catch at The Old Fish Market and Dorset Shellfish
Joint Silver: Sally’s Fish Camp and Katie’s Cornish Hot Pots
Joint Bronze: Brancaster Bay Shellfish and Thyme & Tide
Highly Commended: Idelica
The Festival is one of the most celebrated weekends in Weymouth’s event calendar and is a great draw for the town, with many accommodation providers full of visitors coming to Weymouth for the festival.
The 2022 silver sponsors were Hall & Woodhouse and Miraval Wines. Bronze sponsors Dream Cottages and South Western Railway. Partners, including Weyfish, Blue Marine Foundation and Food and Travel Magazine, Bride Valley Vineyard, Furleigh Estate and Langham Winery.
