THE Tribute and Memorial Darts Competitions, previously known as the Brian Fox and Bob Anderson Snr Memorial Darts proved to be a great success in what was its second year.

The event was held in early May and hosted and sponsored by Basingstoke’s Academy club, in aid of the Heart of Darts charity.

The idea of the day was to bring the darting people together, along with their families and friends, to join other families in memory of and to pay tribute to those who are no longer with us.

It is a day of darts while raising money for charity to help those less fortunate.

One of the organisers John Bartlett, thanked everyone for coming and asked for everyone in the club to take a few minutes to pay their respects to our loved ones, family and friends.

Everyone was asked to put their hands together for an applause, as a mark of respect and remembrance, whilst Bartlett read out the names on the role of honour.

Those on the role of honour were Brian Fox, Bob Anderson, Phyl and Bert Kelly, Graham Baker, Garry Bennett, Tav Bartlett, Rod Shadwell, Bill Freeman, Gary Hawkins, Stan Petchey, Charlie Carr.

Additions this year were Doreen Humber, Steph Oliver, Peter Bartlett and most recently Joe Leahy.

The Tribute and Memorial Pairs final was won by Kevin Windebank and Graham Vernon.

They took the title after they beat Ricky Humber and Mark Hazeldine 4-1 in the final.

The Tribute and Memorial Singles finale proved to be a lot closer.

This was won by Ricky Humber after a thrilling encounter with Richie Waite 5-4.

This was a fitting tribute to his wife Doreen, who he recently lost and who was one of those remembered in the role of honour.

The losing single semi-finalists were Mark Petchey and Jason Waite.

John and Tracey Bartlett, the organisers, were very pleased with what was a very enjoyable, successful and emotional day.

Even with the change in venue the event proved to be popular and raised £710 for charity.

Those benefitting will be Heart of Darts (£600) and Macmillan Cancer (£110).

The money was raised from entry fees, prize money, heart of dart pins, a raffle and an auction.

One of the organisers John Bartlett said: “Our thanks go to everyone who attended.

“The winners and runners-up for donating their prize money, and also to those who donated prizes, participated in the auction and raffle and the great show of charitable gestures.

He added: “Our thanks also go to the Academy snooker centre for sponsoring and allowing us to use the venue to host this year’s event, along with the all the staff involved in helping making this event a success.

“We look forward to next year’s event and hope to see you all there.”