The Maiden Newton at War Committee presented the four groups that helped manage last year’s event with cheques at a presentation evening on Friday 10th May.
The four groups received a share of the profit with £4000 each going to St. Mary’s Church, the Junior Football Club and the Friends of Maiden Newton Play Area and the Friends of Greenford School received a cheque for £4500 in recognition of their additional costs in providing part of the venue. The committee has also made a donation to the Maiden Newton Branch of the Royal British Legion to recognise their support during the event.
Event Manager, Andy Elliott said “An event of this kind would be impossible without the support of the community and in particular the enthusiasm of volunteers. The four organisations recognised this evening agreed from the outset to assist us with running Maiden Newton at War 2012 and they did a great job. We are very pleased to be able to share our profits with them.
The Play Area hopes to purchase a new climbing frame with their donation, the Church will put theirs towards a new kitchenette and toilet, the Junior Football club desperately need a new storage facility and the Friends of Greenford School hope to use their share to help them purchase some new outdoor play equipment for key stage 2. If all of these purchases go ahead then the event of 2012 will have made a significant contribution to the community”.
He went on to say “Unfortunately the future of the event is uncertain. Although it is very popular and has raised tens of thousands of pounds for the community it is very time consuming to organise. I will be standing down from the committee to focus on other things and the rest of the committee have agreed to take a break for now. This means that there will not be another event in 2014. No decision has yet been taken on the long term future of the event, but without a new Event Manager the future remains uncertain”.
Maiden Newton at War has established itself as one of the premier 1940s Re-enactment events in the UK and has always been very well supported. Both civilian and military re-enactors from all over the UK and Europe attend the event and it will leave a big hole in the re-enacting calendar. Anybody wishing to volunteer to help with a future event can contact the committee by e mail: [email protected].