By Sid Chadwick

Diversions pop culture shop in Huddersfield held its annual charity day and raised a record £1,290 for Huddersfield Deaf Centre.

The total was double what shop owner Gareth Hughes had hoped for and he wanted to thank everyone who made the day a resounding success.

“I’ve always said we don’t have customers in this shop, we have friends and a great community,” he said. “I just want to say thank you to everyone who supported us.”

The theme of the charity day was Doctor Who and Whovians turned out in force to meet one of the doctor’s companions Prof Bernice Summerfield, aka actor Lisa Bowerman.

The day included a costume competition and an auction of memorabilia.

 

 

The shop in the Imperial Arcade was busy all day and Gareth said: “We love to support local charities and our charity day is a way of giving back to our community and having some fun at the same time.”

It was Gareth’s 10th time organising a charity day which took him five weeks to plan.

“We sent over 100 emails to various celebrities, trying to get a celebrity for the day and Lisa Bowerman very kindly came along.”

Lisa drove over 500 miles to be there and spent time chatting to fans, posing for photos and signing autographs.

Diversions also made custom Dr Who-themed T-shirts for the special day and also ran free competitions and gave out goody bags.

Gareth added: “We try to beat the total raised every year and we always try to do the best we possibly can for the charities we support.”

 

 

Main image (top) by: GLENN BROOKES 

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