Carnival splits profits among charity groups (From Ilkley Gazette)
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Carnival splits profits among charity groups
8:00am Friday 27th July 2012 in Local news By Jonathan Redhead
Sports clubs, churches, a play group, Scouts and Guides are among groups to benefit from thousands of pounds raised during a successful carnival.
The Ilkley Carnival Committee has now split a £3,800 profit between 15 charitable organisations in the town after raising the money from ticket sales, collection buckets and local business sponsorship.
The May Day carnival was hailed as the town’s biggest and best after the event was established to raise funds for social projects to benefit generations of schoolchildren and local families.
About £80,000 has been raised in 15 years and ploughed back into local groups. Among those to benefit this year are Ben Rhydding Sports Club, Ilkley in Bloom, Ilkley Rugby Club, Ben Rhydding Scouts and Guides, Ilkley Soroptomists, Christchurch, CTI 2000, Ilkley Playgroup and Ilkley Rotary Club.
Carnival committee chairman Andrew Stacey said ways of raising even more money at next year’s event are already being looked into.
He said: “It’s always incredibly satisfying to distribute profits from the carnival amongst local charities and organisations, as that’s exactly what our event is all about.
“The success of the day wouldn’t be possible without the outstanding support and volunteer time of organisations like the Ilkley Rugby Club and even much smaller groups like the parents of Moorfield School, who themselves did a fantastic job of collecting money on the day. The more we can raise through the event the better the outcome for all.
“Based on the changes we imple-mented this year and the fantastic business support from the likes of Bettys, Morrisons and our local traders, we feel we can build on this success and next year reach our target of £10,000 to give back to the community.”
Mr Stacey added: “Ilkley Carnival beneficiaries are a combination of those organisations who ask to be considered to receive donations and groups who volunteer their support on the day. We are looking at ways of refining our beneficiary process to give maximum value and return to those involved, and will be making an announcement later in the year regarding 2013’s event and beneficiary application process.”
