Global darts stars descended on a North Yorkshire pub to help raise more than £6,300 for a cancer charity at a darts marathon.

On Saturday (March 1), the Beeswing Inn in East Cowton played host to a 12-hour charity marathon in aid of Macmillan – rounded off with an all-singing, all-dancing, knockout tournament where each of the competitors were treated to the ‘Ally Pally’ experience – nun costumes and all.

It included the chance for pub players to face off against professional darts stars including Simon Whitlock, Mason Whitlock and Robert Thornton – who all spent hours playing, and beating, punters.

The Beeswing pub in East Cowton. (Image: Stuart Boulton) The event was the brainchild of landlady Beth Robinson, who is held in high regard by the regulars. Over the course of the night, she came in for unprompted praise and adulation for her sense of community and passion for the local area.

“We want the event to be a reason for people to start talking about male-related cancers,” Beth said.

“When I leave here, what I want to be known for is that the pub was at the centre of the community.

Landlady Beth Robinson (centre) with Dan Crosby (left) and Stacey Rhodes (right) of Macmillan Cancer Support during the 12 hour charity darts event at The Beeswing pub in East Cowton.  (Image: Stuart Boulton) “I couldn't have done it on my own so I'd like to thank Punch Pubs and Sky Sports for their incredible generosity in sending Simon, Mason & Robert  - my incredible Friday Night darts team for their endless time and effort (special mention to Chad Pearson) the MacMillan team, DJ Adam Jackman who donated his money to our total, Nile Gott for making us all much more professional and most importantly the incredible locals who more than got into the darts spirit.

“They sang, ate, dressed up, drank, chanted and danced to the early hours of the morning.”

The aim was to score 100,000 points through continuous play over the 12 hours. The event in fact lasted about 15 hours with the knockout tournament rolling into the early hours of the morning.

Simon 'The Wizard'  Whitlock in the 12 hour charity darts event at The Beeswing pub in East Cowton. (Image: Stuart Boulton) Rob Hall, 26, threw the first 180 of the day. Hailing from a darting family in Northallerton, he said scoring the first maximum was a ‘surreal’ moment.

“The first thing you have to do is scream and give it the big one,” he said of his achievement.

“The pub is held in such a high regard locally, but for it to do something darts related and for so many people to turn out, it’s heartwarming.

“It’s been ran fantastically and it couldn’t have gone much better!”

Rob Hall, 26, threw the first 180 of the day. (Image: The Northern Echo) A fundraising total is unlikely to be finalised until the end of the week, but Beth is confident that it has already beaten the record raised in a Macmillan darts marathon event which stands at around £6,300.

Winner of the 2022 World Cup of Darts with Australia, Simon Whitlock, spoke about how he lost his 59-year-old dad to cancer, and what the event meant to him.

“He died of prostate cancer, so it means a lot to me to help raise money for this charity,” he said.

“It’s a great thing.”

Mason Whitlock, professional darts player, lost his grandad to cancer and said he wanted to do what he could to help fight the 'horrible' disease.  (Image: Stuart Boulton) Whitlock’s son, Mason, has followed his dad’s footsteps to the oche, and has recently begun making a name for himself on the Modus Super Series tour. He also spoke of how he has been personally impacted by cancer.

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“Cancer is one of the worst diseases in the world,” he said.

“One of my best friends over here, his mum died of cancer just the other day, so I’ll do anything possible to help prevent this horrible disease.”

The overall tournament was won by Liam Clarkson, who beat this Northern Echo reporter in the first round of the knockouts.