At the 2026 festival we raised £30,000 for local good causes, all of which we will be giving away. Applications are reviewed by the committee to ensure the money stays local and benefits residents of the villages.
Request funding
If you know a local good cause benefiting people from Histon and Impington that needs funding we welcome applications. Please download the request form which should be sent to The Histon Beer Festival Committee, c/o the Red Lion or by email to dhkelly55@gmail.com.
Here are the beneficiaries of the 2025 festival:
Camtrust provides training in life and work skills for adults with learning disabilities. We are extremely grateful to be able to purchase essential items on our wish list including chairs, a wheelchair and 2 digital cameras.
There was a large hole in the roof of the Histon Bowls Club Pavilion! Thanks to the HBF, we repaired and re-felted the roof, so players have somewhere warm, dry and secure to prepare for their matches for many years to come.
We are so grateful for the generous donation towards the refurbishment of our forest school treehouse. This project will transform it into an accessible-for-all wildlife watching area at Rowan’s Forest School, providing local adults with learning disabilities the opportunity to enjoy and connect with nature in an inclusive, safe and creative environment.
With funding support from the Histon Beer Festival, HI Sustainability, 45 volunteers and 12 organisations pulled together to make H&I’s first Imaginarium happen in February. Over 300 residents were transported by our Time Machine to the year 2036 and shared their dreams and ideas for the future of our community.
We’re incredibly grateful for helping us enhance our therapeutic education programme in Histon. The funding will allow The Cambridge Acorn Project to purchase practical learning resources that will improve the experience for children and young people who are unable to access mainstream education because of mental health challenges.
Thanks to your funding, The Connections Bus Project have arranged visits to Etheldred House Care Home in Histon. Young people from our Generation Game Project will chat with residents, play games and enjoy crafts together. These strengthen intergenerational friendships, reduce isolation and provide meaningful experiences for everyone.
Girlguiding Histon District have set up a Hardship Fund to help young members, whose families would otherwise not be able to afford it, to access our more adventurous activities and residential trips. Thank you for supporting this.
Thanks to HBF, HI Friends installed a new charger for their new EV Community minibus. The minibus was funded by past support from the Beer Festival, an SCDC Villages Net Zero grant as well as charity fundraising.
1st Histon Scouts were grateful to receive funding for replacement kayaks. We buy decent second-hand kayaks to aim for sustainability. We appreciate the support helping us continue activities with the young people in our group.
H&I Green Spaces would like to thank HBF supporting all BioBlitz activities including a mini-BioBlitz plus funding equipment to monitor the wildlife around us in future years. We still have activities to come – like “Bat Week”
I am very pleased to report that our signwriters have especially prepared a wagon in recognition of the Beer Festival generous grant for the Model Railway Group.
Thank you for contributing towards our WI commemorative bench for the Green. This will be a place of rest and an opportunity for people to meet and chat. Our bench will encourage people to enjoy our village all through the year and to know that the WI is a movement for good here.
Thank you for the generous donation to Brook Primary towards creating permanent outdoor play equipment for our playground, alongside funds from our PTFA and other local organisations. The new trim trail style equipment will offer a safe, engaging space that encourages exercise, balance, agility and collaborative play for all year groups.
Many thanks from the Histon Litter Pickers for your support. We are grateful to the Beer Festival Committee for rewarding our litter-pickers of all ages with refreshments after Big Tidy Up and the replacement equipment.
Funds to HI Archaeology Group allow us to complete specialist reporting of finds which will soon result in publication of years of community work that tell the story of the villages when written documentation is scanty or non-existent.
The grant that HI Trees received from HBF will fund a one-day Community Tree Care event in April 2027 to enable us to look after as many of the 1000+ trees as possible.
We’re delighted for funding from HBF to support girls’ football at Histon Hornets to provide female athlete wellbeing kit bags for every girls’ team, helping to make conversations around periods, puberty and changing bodies a completely normal part of football.
2024 Good Causes
HI Friends used its donation to launch the HI Friends Lunch Club which offers older residents the opportunity to come together at the Kay Hitch Way Community Centre for ‘food fun and friendship’. The club lays on a hot meal including a pudding, along with a fun programme of activities such as quizzes, singing, bingo, guest speakers and, of course, several cups of tea! In doing so, it plays a key role in helping to reduce isolation and loneliness in our community. Minibus transport is arranged for those who would not otherwise be able to get there.
1st Histon Scouts purchased replacement climbing harnesses and helmets. A core part of activities across their groups is offering chances to try different sport experiences. This new climbing equipment is helping to offer age-appropriate climbing and abseiling experiences to Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Explorers and Leaders. With their own qualified instructors, they make use of both indoor venues locally and outside venues further afield including the Peak District, South Wales and the Lake District. These activities are fun, good for physical and mental development, and also great for developing young people’s wider skills, such as teamwork, trust, empathy, mutual support, encouragement and leadership. All of which are good for them as individuals and, ultimately, our wider communities.
Camtrust is an Impington-based charity which provides training in life and work skills for adults with learning disabilities. Activities are tailored for each individual through a bespoke programme, ranging from ICT and core skills to arts & crafts and supported work experience – helping clients feel confident in their abilities and supporting them to reach their potential.
They used the donation for the replacement of computers for clients who are learning ICT. The computers are vital equipment for the charity – enabling them to provide digital life and work skills programmes.
Rowan Humberstone is a small, vibrant charity providing an arts centre and a forest school for adults with learning disabilities in Cambridgeshire who launched ‘Rowan Rangers’ which runs every Friday in private woodland in Histon. Their Forest School enables students to engage and connect with nature in a unique way and gain a better understanding of the countryside, whilst keeping active, staying connected and developing new skills and improving happiness, health and wellbeing. Students take part in a range of activities including storytelling, den building, fire lighting, green woodwork, wildlife spotting and creating nature-inspired artwork. They used the funding to purchase 2 metal sheds to safely store green woodwork tools and craft materials. Here is a picture of one of them with some of the wonderful ‘Rowan Rangers’ inside
The other organisations who benefitted this year were:
- Histon Cricket Club for mobile nets
- HI Darts League to fund an open darts tournament
- Brook School PTA for permanent lines and marking in their playgrounds
- Connections Bus Project to replace the engine in their van
- HI Litter Pickers for refreshments at a think you event for their volunteers
- The Cavendish School to help fund outdoor gym equipment
- Histon Hornets to put towards funding for a new all-weather pitch at IVC
- Histon Guides to fund two event shelters for use during camping trips and other outdoor activities
- Histon Early Years Centre for a mud kitchen (that sounds like a lot of fun!)
- Cambridge Acorn Project to launch a therapeutic education programme
None of the organisations above could do what they do without their volunteers. These are the unsung heroes in our community. I am sure that each and every one of them would welcome more volunteers so please feel free to get in touch with them.
2023 Good Causes
In 2023 we donated money to 12 good causes as detailed below. None of these organisations could do what they do without their volunteers. These are the unsung heroes in our community. I am sure that each and every one of them would welcome more volunteers so please feel free to get in touch with them. Here is what some of them did with YOUR money.
Camtrust is celebrating the construction of a new bike store which will enable it to secure the second-hand bikes it sells to raise money for the charity. A patch of overgrown land at the back of its site has been used for the new store, which will enable Camtrust to keep all the donated bikes out of the rain and be a more difficult target for would-be thieves.
At the official opening of the new store, charity manager Lilly Mungovan said: “We’re absolutely thrilled and overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity and support with this project.”
Histon Explorer Scouts used their funding to buy paddle boards and here they are enjoying one of their sessions at Overcote.
Park School PTA bought iPads for the school, which are used in multiple lessons across year groups to offer exciting and engaging content to students. The other organisations who benefitted from funding were:
| Litter pickers | Histon Hornets | HI Hub |
| Park School PTA | Hi Friends | HI Archaeology Group |
| Royal British Legion | Histon Bowls Club | Pump Track |
| Dementia Action Week |
If you know a local good cause that needs some funds, we welcome applications which should be sent to The Histon Beer Festival Committee, c/o the Red Lion or by email to dhkelly55@gmail.com.
2022 Good Causes
In 2022 we saw record attendances and raised over £12,000 for local good causes. Among the recipients of the money were Histon Hornets Football Club, to replace all their mini soccer goal nets; Histon & Impington Village Society, towards publishing costs for their new book about Chivers; Opportunity Playgroup, to replace ageing play equipment; the Community Orchard for a new gate; and The Early Years Centre for repairs to their beach area.
Their charitable donations started when the brook (or is it a pond?) needed dredging and the village had to raise match funding to claim a National Lottery grant that would help pay for the silt to be removed. Things have moved on since. Past beneficiaries have included the Abbey Fields fundraising, Woodcraft Folk, Sporting Memories group, post-natal support initiatives,play therapy, the village Doughnut Awards, the H&I Archaeology Group, Food Parcels during the lockdown, Men’s Shed,Dementia Worker, HI Trees Action Group, Hope Again Bereavement Group, Histon Cricket Club, the HI Litter Pickers, Half Moon Creative Arts, the Orchard Road Community Garden and the launch of HI HUB. That is a LOT!