A celebration of what would have been a Hampshire man's 21st birthday raised more than £18,000 in his memory.

George Dillon’s 21st Honky Tonk Hoedown was held on Saturday, June 15. 

George, of Romsey Road, Ower, died in a car crash last May, when he was just 19.

In the wake of the tragedy, George's family set up the George Dillon Only a Dream Away CIC to help survivors and the families of people with traumatic and acquired brain injuries become more independent via mobility aids, therapies, home adaptations and respite care.

George Dillon’s friends (Image: Contributed)

A total of £18,136.51 was raised for the CIC at the event. 

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The party was a gathering of George's family and friends and featured a sponsored mullet shave, live music, fun activities and more.

Angie Dillon, George's mum, said: “George was a huge fan of country music so we decided there could be no better way to mark the occasion than to host a party in true George style.

“The day started with seven of George’s friends lined up ready to brave the shave with a sponsored mullet shave.

"All seven men had been raising sponsorship prior to the event in preparation to have their hairstyle shaved into a mullet as George had done in 2020 whilst living at college when he allowed his friends to create his new hairstyle.

"One of his friends Archie Goulding decided to go one step further and announced if he could raised a further £100 for the charity he would shave even more hair off - he was very quickly given a further £120 and shaved off the whole front of his head.”

Tug of war (Image: Contributed)

She added: “This was followed by a Wurzels tribute band, The Twerzels, who took us into the afternoon with some traditional English country music.

“We have several activities taking place during the afternoon which included zorb racing/skittles, catapult tin-can alley, laser clay pigeon shoot, rodeo bull, tug-o-war and line dance classes.

"We surprised everybody with a professional cowboy stunt show who entertained our guests with a magnificent interactive show and then mingled with the crowd to provide a great cowboy atmosphere.

“We also held a big raffle, tombola and silent auction to raise additional funds for the charity and received some fabulous donations and offers of sponsorship from many local companies who wanted to support us.

“As the sun set we had two further bands playing music to take us into the evening. The first being The Luke Combs Experience, a tribute to George’s favourite American country music artist Luke Combs. The last band of the evening were The Big Country Band who played us through to the end with some classic country favourites like Kenny Roger’s, Dolly Parton, John Denver.

“It was a wonderful day with great music and lots of dancing and singing, a day full of happiness celebrating the life of a dearly loved son, brother, family member and true friend to many.”