Shrewsbury’s popular carnival could be axed if more people don’t become committee members, organisers have warned.
The town’s summer carnival is the third-largest event to take place in Shrewsbury after the Flower Show and the West Mid Show but the whole event is under threat due to a lack of volunteers to help run it.
Gill Puttock, carnival secretary, said that they only have 10 committee members and they desperately need at least another four. Five of the existing members are all part of the Puttock family but with Gill’s daughter, Aislinn, and her partner, Dale, having to look after their newborn baby they have little time to spare.
Mrs Puttock, said: “We are running on bare bones at the moment and if we don’t get more people to help us there is a real danger that next year’s carnival will be the last. We need people to help organise attractions, sell the carnival magazines, get people to advertise and also just give us fresh ideas.
“One of the members is responsible for all the booking of the floats, I do all the charity and trade stalls and then there’s booking all the dancers and bands who put on displays.
“My husband Graham and I deal with all the advertisers and my son, Simon, deals with all the children’s rides and catering and we all have to go out and sell the magazine. The trouble is that we all work too and it can be very difficult to juggle all our commitments.”
The carnival attracts thousands of spectators each year to the town. The winner of the Chronicle carnival princess competition leads the parade of floats and money raised from the event benefits many local charities.
“The carnival was revived in its current form in 1977 to celebrate the Queen’s silver jubilee,” said Gill. “But with the present economic climate, I think it will be hard to get people to advertise and bring attractions to next year’s event as they are scared they might not get their money back.”
The carnival committee meets once a month on a Thursday and the next meeting is on December 20.
Any new member shadows an existing member for the first 12 months and is not given any specific responsibilities. The committee would also like to hear from charities who are interested in becoming a beneficiary for next year’s carnival.
For more information about the committee, or to find out about being a beneficiary, contact Gill at gkmotandtacho@live.com or write to 74 Whitchurch Road, Shrewsbury, SY1 4DS.