Bonfire Boyes chairman Matt Southam thanked the many individuals and organisations who had helped and supported the society over the past 12 months, especially those who were involved in the Battle Bonfire Night celebrations held in the town last November.

Bonfire members who worked so hard on the day of the bonfire in atrocious weather conditions were congratulated.

As part of the presentation, bottles of wine and flowers were presented to special helpers, the flowers having been kindly donated by The Battle House of Flowers.

Matt Southam highlighted that the bonfire celebrations cost more than £12,000 to stage and that as usual, an enormous amount of fundraising would be required in order to stage the 2009 event.

It was announced that the street collection at last year's bonfire night amounted to £3,292.71 and that the majority of this would, as usual, be donated to local worthwhile causes.

Among the organisations that benefited from donations made at the presentation were Battle Guides, Brownies and Rainbows, 1st Battle Scout Group, Bexhill Scouts, Battle Muffins Club, Guide Dogs for the Blind, the Sussex Autistic Society and Torfield Special School in Hastings.

A full list and photographs of the afternoon can be found on the Bonfire Boyes website www.battelbonfire.co.uk