By Robert Haile

St Bees will rattle and roll to the sound of Soap Box Racers for the first time in nearly forty years.

A new committee of locals made up of Claire and Stephen Shackley, Charles Bagshaw, Lee Shackley and Nathan Lord have got together to organise The St Bees Soap Box Derby.

The seven stop race that starts at the top of the Main Street running to the Queens Hotel, sponsored by C. Sharpe Roofing, is being resurrected from the early 80s when committee members saw a photograph from 1982.

A spokesperson for the committee said: “The revival idea came about after a photograph from 1982 were seen by a few locals, it was thought it would be a great idea to bring some entertainment and togetherness to the village, though you don’t have to be from the village to enter.”

Taking place on December 29, the event is raising funds for three causes with connections to the village, the St Bees RNLI, MND and Jude Jackson.

“The three charities were chosen as they closely affect some villagers in some way and the organisers wanted to donate to more than one charity,” added the spokesperson.

“While none of the committee are members of the lifeboat themselves, there are some family members and lots of other villagers who volunteer for the lifeboat.”

The seven race stops will be providing drinks with Alan Bowes, Steve Hayton, Abi Nutsford, Margaret Thompson, Dale Jackson, Carl Sharpe, Myra Lockie, The Manor House and The Queens Hotel providing the refreshments for the racers.

There will be a trophies for best fancy dress and the overall race winner which can be engraved by the winner’s of the trophy providing a lasting legacy to the charity competition that is hoped to become an annual event.

Don’t worry if Soap Box racing is not your thing Claire Shackley will be organising a raffle for the event and Nathan from The Queens is putting live entertainment and food on afterwards.

Any teams or individuals wishing to take part can register for £5 per person by speaking to Nathan Lord of The Queens Hotel.