26/08/2024
It has been disappointing to read the bold comments made over the past few days from people who clearly know nothing about the Association and who certainly haven’t been present or involved in the meetings and negotiations with the site hirers. The joys of Facebook we guess and whereas everyone is entitled to their opinion, when such comments are factually incorrect, we’d like to take the time to clarify a few points.
Regarding the Truck Show, the conversations we had been having with the organiser were certainly very different to what has been recently posted. Just a few days prior to his post to the world on Facebook he had requested, and we had provisionally agreed, an August 2025 date at the Showground for his event and his request to advertise was granted so that people could get the dates in their diaries, so it was a surprise to us to hear, via a Facebook post, the change of venue.
People seem to have failed to take on board the comment made on said post about the change of venue enabling him to ‘host a different vibe to the show’. These changes had not been part of our conversations about next year’s booking. However, we would certainly struggle to offer enough space that could host a tractor pulling and 4 x 4 experience purely due to the inevitable damage that would be caused to the ground, especially if the weather was inclement. This sort of damage would impact our subsequent hirers of the site and this rightly has to be taken into consideration. It is true that they had to move their main ring this year but not because ‘we didn’t want any stunt shows’ but because the stunt shows created a mud pit last year and completely tore up the grass requiring the ring to be reseeded. This not only impacted the subsequent hirer, who had to change the layout for their event, but has also impacted the ring for our Show (to explain - young, fresh grass is far less hardy and hard wearing than older, well-established grass - an important factor in the horse-riding sector). An alternative area was offered (in the adjacent field), and agreed, and we’re sure any confusion that may have been caused to the visitors with the change of venue could’ve been simply solved with better signage. However, what has sparked the most interest in the post is the mention of money and not only would we deem that totally unprofessional, especially as the statement and figures are inaccurate, but we would also urge you to stop and consider that there are always two sides to every story.…… No further comment will be made about the charges other than to clarify that the hire charges for the site are determined by the duration of the site hire, the area of the Showground used, the number of toilet blocks and quantities of consumables used, the amount of water and electric consumed, plus any damage repair costs. Greed certainly doesn’t come into the calculations. It is also worth flagging that the cost of the Showground is not the only cost involved with putting on an event. Please take time to consider the costs of marquees, security, medical cover, fire equipment, barriers/fencing, catering, entertainment, staging, sound monitoring, licencing, insurances, waste bins/waste disposal, signage, ticketing, advertising – the list goes on.
The fact that the VW Jamboree has also been dragged into this barrage of comments seems very unfair and it’s disappointing that the same assumptions have been made. It is not for us to divulge the reasons why this may be the last year for the VW Jamboree but having had meetings with the committee, we have a strong relationship with them and are offering our support moving forward.
To clarify further, Stithians Showground is owned and operated by Stithians Agricultural Association Ltd, a company limited by guarantee, which means there are no shareholders or beneficial owners. The Association is a Registered Charity which has the prime objective of running the annual Stithians Show with a secondary objective of furthering education in the agricultural sector. Management is by a Board of Trustees who are obliged to act in the best interests of the Charity and strictly within the objects of the Charity.
The Trustees publish an annual Report & Accounts which may be freely downloaded from our web site.
We hope this clarifies the situation and would urge that speculation is avoided, particularly on such public forums. The Association works extremely hard throughout the year to maintain the site and endeavours to make it accessible for all.
