Northcote Road summer fete - we need your help...!!! Post Reply

[Jonny Dyson Property Consultants]

As many of you will recall, due to security concerns and lack of sponsorship, the event was sadly cancelled last year. Whilst the security measures have now been ironed out, we are once again at a 'make or break' point in terms of sponsorship, and we desperately need to raise funds if the event is to take place this year.

The fete has become more and more costly to run, with the overall cost now running to around £45,000. Although the organisers give their time for free, other costs such as 20 stewards, 20 security staff, bus diversions, the giant TV screen, road closures and background security measures all cost money. The revenue from stall sales goes some way to covering the costs, but in reality most of the funds are raised through sponsorship.

We have some small sponsors in place and are currently in discussions with two major sponsors, however we need more options to fundraise and last year the subject of crowdfunding cropped up. If half of the attendees contributed just £5 to the event then we would have enough money to cover the current shortfall - around £25,000.

We would therefore ask you all to speak to your husbands, wives and friends to ask if there are any major sponsors out there that would like to discuss sponsorship options with us. Failing that, please do feel free to go to our newly created crowdfunding page and make a donation - it's an 'all or nothing' campaign so if for any reason the event does not go ahead you will get your money back. The crowdfunding page is here:

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/northcote ... mmer-fete/

Thanks for reading and please donate...!!!

Jonathan Dyson

Chairman
Northcote Business Network

[muckyjeans]

People! why is noone helping here?! Northcote fete is one of the things that makes where we live so special! Friends visiting couldn't believe that such amazing community events happened in London. I would say pledging just £10 is the best value family day out of the year, and the feel good factor is immense.
Don't let's miss out on another year!

[twomonkeys]

May I ask if a scaled back version has been considered that wouldn't have such high overheads?

[falconmum]

I so agree with you, @twomonkeys.
The event has become so expensive that it is prohibitive. We wanted to put up a stall there but at £250 or something for a stall, I would have to sell quite a few cushion covers at a premium price just to recover costs.
In fact, someone advised me to hike up my prices by 30% because it's the Northcote Road fete.
I think if the organisers are struggling, they should do the smart thing and go back to basics.
With community participation , it will still be a great day out and affordable for all!
Better to have an event than to cancel year after year.

Hope you guys are listening.

[Jonny Dyson Property Consultants]

Good morning all,

Thanks for your thoughts and comments on the fete. The reality is that there is no 'scaled back version' to speak of I'm afraid. the majority of the costs are related to the provision of stewards & security, and the associated costs of closing Northcote Road itself. The stewards and security are a necessary cost of running any event these days, and to close a main road which also happens to be a double decker bus route is extremely expensive. In the past we have tried to save money by running the event on Webb's Road, however this didn't really work that well. We have also considered holding the event on Wandsworth Common but as the event is organised by the Northcote Road Business Network, it's hard to see how holding it somewhere else would benefit the traders we are there to support.

@falconmum - I'm surprised at your comments about the cost of stalls at the event as they start at just £100 for a 3m x 3m space, with the most expensive being £220 for a provided stall serving alcohol. Are you sure that you aren't thinking about the Christmas event? These gazebos are sadly much more expensive as they have to be completely weatherproof and substantial. In fact we actually run the Christmas event at cost and don't make any real money out of it - it's really just there for the community spirit.

It is not a question of 'doing the smart thing', it is simply a matter of raising funds through sponsorship or crowdfunding. Of course it would be lovely to charge everyone £5 or £10 on entry (as is the case with virtually every other similar event) however this would mean fencing the length and breadth of Northcote Road which really isn't that practical and would add still more to the overall cost.

Any other suggestions are of course very welcome but I'm afraid that unless there is substantial financial support for the event soon then it will be unlikely to go ahead again this year. If that is the case then I would have thought that it's probably the end of the road for the event altogether.

Jonathan

[falconmum]

I hear you, Jonathan! And I am sure you have looked at other avenues.
I have previously participated in the Ritherdon Road & Bellevue Road street fairs organised by the same company and potentially the organisation was not so great.
However, they were smaller scaled and very well attended despite of the rain and wind...(i remember things flying around!) . As for security, Bellevue fair was on the main road as well and seemed to do ok .
Also, from a stall owner point of view, as the number of stalls increase, the chances of people spending money at one gets spread out!

As you can tell, I am disappointed about not being able to do this fair due to stall costs...but that's just us!

I do wish you the best of luck and hopefully the fete turns out great.

The Christmas Fayre was definitely prohibitive for us. Maybe this year....who knows.

[Motherslittlehelper]

Sounds like the summer Fete has run its time then, £45k sounds a ridiculous amount for a fete (albeit I can see how the costs keep mounting up)

Time to leave it to Abberville road and Belleville rd Fetes in the summer and concentrate on the winter one for Northcote ?

[Alchemy]

the majority of the costs are related to the provision of stewards & security, and the associated costs of closing Northcote Road itself.

The Christmas fair seems to work just fine without road closure -- it's obviously nicer to be able to casually stroll down a traffic-free road rather than having to use the pavement, but if it mean the cost can be reduced significantly, isn't it worth considering?

[muckyjeans]

Wow, I guess it was just me who was enjoying myself among the thousands of people who turn up every year. So much for community, Sad times.

[BFW]

So surprised at how few people have supported this initiative

Have just contributed and hope that you manage to get to the amount needed for the fair to go ahead!

[Jonny Dyson Property Consultants]

the majority of the costs are related to the provision of stewards & security, and the associated costs of closing Northcote Road itself.

The Christmas fair seems to work just fine without road closure -- it's obviously nicer to be able to casually stroll down a traffic-free road rather than having to use the pavement, but if it mean the cost can be reduced significantly, isn't it worth considering?

Hi Alchemy,

Thanks for your thoughts. The Christmas fair does work well, however the simple number of people who visit for the summer event would completely swamp the pavements and would be fundamentally dangerous for pedestrians and road users alike. To put it into numbers, the Christmas event attracts around 2,000 - 3,000 people over the course of the day, whilst the summer event is well over 10,000 and probably closer to 15,000. Any more than 5,000 visitors puts the event into a category that requires us to provide security, stewards, first aid and other such services and this is when the costs start to mount up. It's a mixed blessing that the event has become so successful in the past, as this has now made it a victim of its own success!!

It may well be that if we cannot raise the funds to make it happen this year, then perhaps we just keep the road open and arrange for some visiting stalls next year as you suggest, however there would be no tennis, no fairground rides, no real room to wander around and certainly nothing like the atmosphere that we have had in the past.

Jonathan