Council Meeting 14 March 2024

Summer Community Event / Summer Village Fayre.

1. Introduction:

The purpose of this brief is to engender debate and aid Councillors in deciding whether the Parish
Council (PC) wishes for a Summer Community Event / Summer Village Fayre to be held in 2024.

2. Background:

a. A similar event took place on 08 May 23, primarily as a celebration of the Coronation, which was
received positively by those who attended and – anecdotally – a large number of attendees verbally
expressed a hope that this could become an annual event.

b. An Events budget head was established in the SPF (General) fund for the 2024/25 financial year
amounting to £4,000. (It is to be noted that this is the total sum, not a target for expenditure.)

c. Due to a lack of open public space available within the village, the only location that could
realistically be utilised for this project – as in 2023 – is the Gandish Road playing fields. Enquiries
made with the Sports Council have indicated that there is only one date that would not conflict with
sporting events already committed to: Sunday 23 Jun 24.

3. Considerations:

a. It is anticipated that such an event would draw on local organisations and facilities to both provide
resources and entertainment to benefit their own commercial or membership interests. To this end
it is not envisaged that a charge be made for their participation.

b. Show-casing the village to potential migrants to the village (as a result of the new residential
developments) would be a positive demonstration of community spirit, values, cohesion and of
opportunities available to newcomers to enable them to feel included and become integrated into
village life. To this end organisations representing village-centric interests (e.g. East Bergholt CLT, WI,
St Mary’s church, the schools) would also be invited to man information stations should they wish.

c. Such an event would provide a much needed opportunity for the Sports Council to make inroads
against their loss of income as a result of the impact of the poor weather over the winter months.

d. Scoping of approximate costings undertaken in order to provide ‘core’ activities and to provide a
focus/act as an enabler for other activities include:

i. DJ/compere: £300 + VAT.
ii. Hire of staffed inflatables and provision of a small performance stage: £1,200 + VAT.
iii. Arts and crafts session: £200.

4. Recommendations:

a. That a PC working group is established immediately – in light of the short time-frame that exists –
in order to successfully arrange and coordinate planning for this event.

b. That the date of 23 Jun 24 is formalised as the date for the event.

c. That the Events fund within the SPF (General) 2024/25 budget is utilised for the payment of
costs/fees that arise.

d. That the working group reports to the full PC at its monthly meeting in order provide an update
and to gain authorisation for expenditure.

e. That advertising for this event is initiated forthwith, to include invitations to encourage local
businesses and organisations to attend.

5. Summary:

A similar successful event which did much for the PC’s reputation ran in 2023 with a lead time of 4
months; the lead time for this event is shorter, however lessons learned from that experience should
expedite planning for 2024. However, given full PC meeting schedules, for this project to be viable, a
decision needs to be made – either way – at the PC meeting on 14 Mar 24.

Louise Smith
Assistant Clerk
East Bergholt Parish Council