THE amount of cash available for the annual distribution by Pewsey Carnival Committee held on Saturday was severely limited by a commitment to put up a new storage building on the Salisbury Road trading estate.

The carnival committee had hoped to recoup all or most of the cost of the building by selling a piece of the carnival field at Kepnal as a building plot, but there was local opposition to this plan which was refused by Kennet District Council.

At the time, the carnival chairman, Richard Giles, warned that the only alternative way of paying for the new building was to take the money fom carnival proceeeds over a period of years.

At the presentation night on Saturday at the Royal Oak, £4,100 was shared out to local organisations, charities, and to villages within the carnival catchment area. Last year a total of £7,360 was shared between 54 organisations.

Mr Giles said money had been taken out of reserves to keep the donations at a reasonable level, while keeping cash back to service the £41,000 mortgage on buying the site for the storage shed.

He said: "We had to take money out of reserves to keep up that level of presentation."

The major recipients on Saturday were the Great Western Hospital medical equipment fund and Cancer Research which received £500 each.

Donations of £200 were given to the Wiltshire Air Ambulance and to the Prospect Hospice.

Local charities who received £25 each were: Bartlett House residential OAP home at Ludgershall, Pewsey Brownies, Police Benevolent Fund, Wessex Children's Hospice, Pewsey RC Church, St John The Baptist Church, Pewsey Methodist Church, Pewsey Heritage Centre, the annual RNLI concert in Pewsey, Pewsey and District Link and the Fire Brigade Benevolent Fund. Marlborough Round Table charities fund received £700. A donation of £100 was made to Pewsey Vale School technology department, £150 to North Wilts RAYNET for providing radio links for the procession and £80 to the Friends of Chippenham Hospital.

Further donations included £50 to Pewsey Girl Guides and £25 to Puddleducks Pre School. A donation of £350 was also made to the carnival lighting committee for the purchase of new lights and time clocks.