Page 17 - Issue 69 Online

MANEA MATTERS
MANEA MATTERS
Committee was formed and
set about raising its own
funds, which were ploughed
back into the next year’s
Gala. The date for the Gala
was then set for the second
Saturday in July, each year.
The Gala had to be totally
self-funded from here on, so
pitches began to be hired out
to retailers. This encouraged
a much larger footfall each
year, to the point where
around 80 different stalls and sideshows now
attend with an attendance figure of around Public safety had to
2,000+ people. The Gala is put together by a be our main priority,
dedicated team of volunteers, some of whom so we had to make
serve on the committee, and others just turn
up on the day. All the work is unpaid and gets the decision to cancel
done for the pure satisfaction of seeing smiles
on faces, with great community spirit. This year’s cancellation was a very difficult
Sadly Covid-19 brought along the unexpected decision to make as we could see that
cancellation of both the 2020 and 2021 Galas. restrictions were slowly being lifted, but we had
no guidelines to follow as no one knew what
2021 would bring.
Could we justify spending out on hiring main ring
events, toilet hire, advertising, event insurance,
first aid cover etc, when no one knew if we
would be allowed to hold an outdoor event, let
alone an event attracting 2000+ people. The risk
assessment was huge!
Public safety had to be our main priority, so we
had to make the decision to cancel.

We thank each and every one of you who have
been involved in organising, and who have
attended the Gala, over the last 65 years. We
hope to see you all at the Manea Gala 2022 on
Saturday 9th July ... fingers crossed.

Stephen Short

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DEADLINE for Issue 70 – Friday 20 August 2021 PAGE 17
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