A housebuilder has donated £500 to help a village fete near Macclesfield take place this year.

Vistry Group has given the money to the organisers of Wincle Fete, which has seen a two-year absence due to Covid restrictions.

The fete brings villagers in Wincle together for an event which also acts as the stage for the famous Wincle Trout Run – a 9.5km fell race – and is to be held at Burnt House Farm in the village on Saturday June 11.

Pupils from the village school will put on a dance show at the event, and there will also be a sheep-shearing display, dog shows, a coconut shy, tea and cake stalls run by the Women's Institute, a beer tent, a kids disco and live music.

Kent-based business Vistry – which is planning to build new homes in nearby Macclesfield under the Bovis Homes brand – agreed to make the donation after being contacted by the fete organising committee.

Paul Taylor, a member of the Wincle Fete Committee, said: "We are very grateful indeed to Bovis Homes for agreeing to donate £500 to ensure that we can stage the Wincle Fete this year. The event had to be cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus restrictions and it was big miss for everyone in the village.

"We are on the edge of the Peak District here and this fete is the quintessential English village affair.

"The fell run gets competitors coming over from Europe and the whole day is a huge opportunity for people to get together, reconnect and have a lot of fun.

"The fete not only attracts most of the villagers but also has plenty of people from the surrounding area coming along too. We are expecting up to 1,500 people to turn up on the day and thanks, in part, to this donation we know we can pay for it to go ahead."

Freya Halsall, marketing assistant at Vistry Mercia, said: "This village fete is exactly the kind of event that we at Vistry Mercia are very keen and very happy to support.

"We are hoping to build a new neighbourhood in nearby Macclesfield and want to play a positive role in the local community.

"After two years in which the village fete could not be held it is great to be able to play a small part in ensuring that a much-loved local tradition is rightly restored to the social calendar."

Vistry Mercia, which incorporates Bovis Homes, Linden Homes and Vistry Partnerships, has submitted a detailed planning application to Cheshire East Council for permission to build 306 new homes on a 56.6-acre site at Gaw End Lane in Macclesfield.

For more information about the new homes being built by Vistry Mercia, visit this webpage and this webpage.