Cornish beer icon Betty Stogs has doubled “her” money in 12 hectic months of colourful fund-raising for charity.

Named after its best-selling beer, the figurehead of Truro-based Skinners Brewery has raised a mammoth £5,000-plus over the past year – equal to the previous two years put together.

Betty, aka 44-year-old agricultural sales representative Fred Thomas, originally signed up to help Skinners celebrate their tenth anniversary in 2007. Dressed as a woman, his character has since become a fund-raising phenomenon and an increasingly well-known figure at popular events across the county.

These have included Falmouth Carnival, when his two-and-a-half gallon bucket was filled to the brim with the event’s biggest individual collection, contributing to a total of £1,500 collected during the big parade.

At Newquay’s Lusty Glaze Beach, Fred claimed a new “world record” for the longest zip wire journey, raising around £1,600 for the multiple sclerosis Merlin Project through sponsorship.

Other highlights for Fred have included Falmouth’s beer, oyster and sea shanty festivals. Biggest beneficiaries have been the RNLI and the Children’s Hospice South West Precious Lives Appeal.

“It’s a win-win situation all round,” he says. “I enjoy doing it, I make a lot of people laugh, and at the end of it all charities are benefiting.”

A lot of it is thirsty work, as he explains: “For the likes of Sport Relief, when I ran four miles at two events on the same day, I can lose a bit of weight on the road and then promptly put it back on again with a pint or two of Betty Stogs afterwards! So that’s what I call a give-and-take scenario.”

He adds: “I get some kidding at work and I don’t necessarily enjoy dressing up as a woman quite as much as some people seem to think I do, but there’s no denying that it is good fun all round, which can’t be a bad thing!”

Brewery chief executive Steve Skinner comments: “Fred just gets better and better. There’s nobody more skilled at persuading people to put money into a charity collection bucket. He’s a great character and a real inspiration to everyone around him. I feel sure he will raise even more money in the coming year.”