The annual Heswall Christmas Pub Crawl fundraiser has been cancelled after growing too large for organisers to manage. The event, which raised more than £23,000 in 2024 and £34,000 in 2025, has expanded significantly year on year, but volunteers say they feel unqualified to safely oversee such a large gathering.
Event's origins and growth
The charity pub crawl started more than a decade ago in aid of Mia Austin (Mountains For Mia). Mia, from Bebington, was diagnosed with locked-in syndrome in 2009, which left her unable to speak or move and only able to communicate through eye movement. Despite this, she travelled the world, completed a criminology course at Wirral Metropolitan College and became an author with a book about her experiences called In The Blink Of An Eye. Mia died in 2019 at 29 years old, two days before she was named Merseyside's Woman of the Year.
The Heswall Christmas Pub Crawl continued with donations shifting to the Tim Cogley Foundation. The event grew and became a fixture of the area, raising more than £23,000 in 2024 and £34,000 in 2025.
Organisers' statement
In a statement issued yesterday (October 6) on Facebook, organisers announced the pub crawl would come to an end in 2026. Due to its size and popularity, volunteers no longer feel they can control the outing as "we are a charity, not qualified mass-event managers".
The statement said: "The event was originally created many years ago to support the wonderful Mia and her family. We feel incredibly privileged to have been trusted with carrying it forward for the Tim Cogley Foundation and to have watched it grow into such a huge part of the local community."
"However, with that growth has come a level of responsibility that we can no longer safely and responsibly manage. We are a charity, not qualified mass-event managers, and as two volunteers, the event has simply grown beyond what we feel we can reasonably oversee."
Thanks and future support
The statement continued: "It has been a really tough decision, but we genuinely believe it is the right one. We want to say a huge thank you to every venue, volunteer and individual who has supported the pub crawl and helped make it what it became. We couldn’t have done it without you."
"A special thank you to Mia and her family, whose story was the reason they were the very first charity, when the Heswall Christmas Pub Crawl began. What started as a way of supporting one family grew into something that brought the Heswall community together every Christmas, and we are incredibly proud to have played a part in that."
The organisers also asked the public to continue supporting the local venues that backed the pub crawl, saying: "They have given their time, space and support so generously, and we hope you’ll continue to visit and support them throughout the year."
