Town Council provides £7500 grant for town show

wilmslowshowcheque

The Town Council has agreed to provide a grant for the town's annual show, which is now in its 103rd year.

The Wilmslow Show, which is run entirely by volunteers and aims to provide an inexpensive and entertaining day out for all age groups, applied for a grant of £7500.

The grant will be used towards the general infrastructure of the show, without which the event could not go ahead. Items to be covered with this money include the field layout (£5647), lighting, electricity and water (£5408), insurance (£2197), toilet hire (£820), and security (£1059). The costs in brackets are what was paid for the 2014 show.

Speaking at the Town Council meeting on Monday, 19th January, Frank McCarthy, Chairman of the Wilmslow Show, said "The show is run for the people of Wilmslow by the people of Wilmslow and what we're really asking for is for the people of Wilmslow, through their council, to support the show to ensure it's viability now and into the future.

"We are all purely volunteers doing nothing but trying to put on a show for the people of Wilmslow. We are very proud of our history and the fact that it probably is the biggest thing that happens in the town each year and what we'd like to do is be able to hand on to our successors a viable show into the future - as so many shows around the country are disappearing which is such a great pity as it is shows like this that actually draw attention to the town.

"The Classic Car Show, which is part of our show, brings people from all over the country. They come into Wilmslow, stay in hotels and they shop here, they talk about Wilmslow all over the shop and it puts Wilmslow on the map.

"We also try to have a show that will bring the people of Wilmslow together, that will make people in Wilmslow feel more a part of Wilmslow."

Frank continued "What we are asking for is for the council to support the show into the future by supporting 50% of the actual infrastructure costs."

The council all voted in favour of the great application, with the exception of Cllr Ruth McNulty.

Cllr McNulty commented "The accounts tell quite a sad story. They show your gate money falling quite substantially at the same time your expenses are increasing quite dramatically. It shrieks, from a consultancy point of view, that you really need to be doing something very different to alter that balance. What different plans have you got for this year?"

Frank McCarthy acknowledged that they need to refresh the show and they are looking at reducing costs but explained that they are very dependent on the weather which has a huge impact on the number of people attending the show.

Frank responded "All the time we are trying to cut back on the hidden costs which we think are there and trying to make it much more manageable. We are acutely aware that without your support the show hasn't got more than three or four years to go. It would be a terrible shame if that happened."

So far, the committee has identified a number of savings, including cutting out road signs, saving £800, and using a volunteer to make all the announcements for free instead of using radio stations, saving £1000.

Last year Wilmslow Town Council declined a a joint grant application from the Wilmslow Show and Musical Festival, which was integrated into the show last year, for £5250. They voted to reject the application because it lacked detail about what the money would be spent on and the accounts showed that Wilmslow Show Ltd had assets of £11,579.

The 2015 Wilmslow Show will take place on Sunday 4th July.

Do you attend the Wilmslow Show? Share your thoughts on the annual event using the comment box below?

Photo (l-r): Cllr Martin Watkins (Chairman Wilmslow Town Council), Frank McCarthy (Chairman of the Wilmslow Show Committee) and Cllr Philip Enstone.

Tags:
Wilmslow Show, Wilmslow Town Council
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Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Barry Buxton
Wednesday 21st January 2015 at 2:11 pm
I agree with Cllr McNulty. Also, there should be an admission fee which covers these costs - not a grant.
Oliver Romain
Wednesday 21st January 2015 at 11:37 pm
Its not run for Wilmslow its run for the people who attend by buying tickets. I often attend and enjoy the show, but if it needs the cash increase the ticket price or stall prices. This seems to be pre April budget dumping.
David Jefferay
Thursday 22nd January 2015 at 1:18 pm
Hi Oliver,

I voted for it because I think it is an important event in the Wilmslow annual calendar (along with the likes of the artisan markets, the switching on of the Xmas lights, the bonfire night fireworks display, etc) because it helps develop a sense of community that I think Wilmslow is lacking somewhat.

When I was a kid, we used to go to the rose queen festival at St Johns which was a real community event. Many such events in Wilmslow have died and I think the town is worse off because of it. They still have them in surrounding villages (I regularly go to the one in Bosley) and I recognise how important it is to their communities.

Wilmslow may be too big for a village fete type function but the Wilmslow show, the other events I mentioned above and recently the scarecrow festival, are all bigger and better and all help to foster that sense of community.

Cllr McNulty is right about the accounts and I wouldn't vote to prop it up every year but the Wilmslow show representatives convinced me that they are making significant changes to make the event more sustainable and self-supporting. I wouldn't want it to fail before those changes have been implemented... these things are so difficult to get up and running again if you don't run it one year and let momentum go!

I didn't want to see things in just numbers and costs (in Cllr McNulty's words 'from a consultancy' perspective) without thinking about the intangible benefits of such events.

Anyway, that's why I voted for it.

Just thought I'd explain that I certainly didn't vote for it to dump budget before April.

Cheers,

Dave

PS And then there are the tangible benefits to the town...