Like the amazing stilt walker seen strolling the streets throughout the Fayre, the 2019 Country Fayre Committee sought to achieve something like near-perfect balance – between prudent expenditure to create a well-attended, sustainable community event and raising funds for local charities. Having completed the ‘wrap-up’ tasks for this year’s Fayre and reviewed the financials we are pleased to report that we believe we have achieved this goal.
The Fayre was undoubtedly a community effort and with this in mind the Committee believes it is only right to make public a summary of the 2019 Fayre accounts. We hope that doing so provides some insight into the scale of the event and the resources required and also encourages your feedback and suggestions for future fundraising and planning. We know there is always room for improvement!
As most of you know this Fayre was organised differently from those in the past. We decided to let the charities have their stalls for free and to keep their own profits – in the past it had all come to the Committee and the totals were divided amongst all the charities. This is the reason the total profit is low this time and we only had a small amount to distribute. The Committee chose the charities to benefit on the grounds of help given or need. We would certainly like to help more charities in the future – we need the whole town to get involved and that is why we have published the date now!”
A number of the costs associated with staging the Fayre are incurred ‘behind the scenes’ well before the fun of the Fayre begins. Many of the logistics and infrastructure considerations required to make the Fayre a safe and enjoyable experience have fees attached – permits and licenses for road closures and the raffle, rental of road closure signs and traffic cones, sound systems, stalls set-up and take down amongst others. These costs made up 49% of Fayre expenses.
Additionally, having adequate insurance is now a fact of life for all events. The sheer variety of things that made the Fayre such a success – outdoor activities, retail stalls, music, entertainment, the pageant, volunteers, etc – creates some challenges from an insurance point of view that can have an impact on costs. Insurance made up 7.5% of the Fayre costs this year. The Committee has already begun work on sourcing more cost effective insurance for the next Fayre to help reduce these costs while still maintaining sufficient cover.
Key to making the Fayre appealing and ensuring high attendance levels is the entertainment on offer. The Committee worked hard to source good value entertainment that provided maximum enjoyment across all age groups for a reasonable cost. Feedback from Fayre attendees suggests that, in the main, we succeeded in this regard. However, we know there is always room for improvement and we are exploring ideas for the next Fayre to ensure an even greater return on investment. If you have suggestions for entertainment you would like to see at future Fayres, please contact the committee with your ideas by emailing admin@minchinhampton.life
Finally, it was agreed in the early stages of planning the Fayre that, after covering all Fayre costs, £3133 of the proceeds would be reinvested in the next Fayre. This is critical to ensuring the sustainability of this community event without having to rely solely on the generosity of local sponsors. This leaves over £1500 for distribution amongst the following Minchinhampton charities: Horsfall House, Longfield Hospice, The Market House, NkokotoLink, Jonathan Brough.
The next Fayre will be held on Saturday, 11th September 2021.
Photographs from this year’s Fayre can be found at https://www.ebonyian.com
2019 Country Fayre Accounts Summary
Balance at outset: £790
Funds raised through sponsorship, raffle and fayre activities:£9930
Total incoming:£10,720
Expenditure on insurance, entertainment, infrastructure etc:£5987
Final balance:£4733
Sheryl Hobbs-Canning