Duke of Buccleuch's Hunt raises over £6,000 for the Hunt Staff Benefit Society (HSBS)

The Duke of Buccleuch's Hunt has raised over £6,000 for the Hunt Staff Benefit Society (HSBS) following a collection made on 26th February.

This fundraising day began with donations being made during the meet held at Makerstoun House, hosted by Lord Biddulph. In the evening, the generosity continued during the hunt ball which took place at Floors Castle, near Kelso, by kind invitation of the Duke and Duchess of Roxburghe. Over 600 guests enjoyed supper and an evening of reels, as well as an auction which was very well-supported. A total of £6,290.96 was raised for the HSBS.

The auction was conducted jointly by Tim Kent and Bernard Condren from Goffs UK who are based nearby at Hawick, and featured a small, pedal-powered Claas tractor (as pictured) as one of the lots up for grabs.

The chairman of the Duke of Buccleuch's Hunt, Mark Gilbert, said: "The HSBS performs an incredibly important role by ensuring those who dedicate themselves to hounds, receive a pension upon completion of their time in the service of hunting. This fundraising day was enjoyed by many hundreds of hunt supporters and friends from across the local area and we thank them for their generosity."

Fiona Russell-Brown, secretary of the HSBS was delighted with the donation from the hunt: "We are incredibly grateful to all those who kindly contributed to this collection. Donations such as these are hugely important to the running of the HSBS and without them the Society would not be able to provide the charges-free personal pension scheme it currently does to our hardworking hunt staff."

Polly Portwin, Director of the Campaign for Hunting at the Countryside Alliance said: "The HSBS relies on the generosity of hunt supporters up and down the country to provide the invaluable service that they do for those in hunt service. A massive well done to all those at the Duke of Buccleuch's Hunt for organising what was clearly a very popular and enjoyable day of fundraising and entertainment."

The HSBS is a Registered Friendly Society benefiting the staff, without whom hunting could not exist. It is not a charity but it offers a personal pension scheme specifically, and only, for staff employed by hunts. Further details can be found on their website.

Image credit: ILF Imaging