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03
Oct
Harrogate Town Council agrees donation towards Stray bonfire
Harrogate Town Council has agreed a £1,000 donation to the Stray Bonfire.
The event, which has been organised by Harrogate Round Table for 54 years, is set to be held on the Oatlands Drive section of the Stray and will raise money for Martin House Children’s Hospice.
On Wednesday night (October 1), town councillors voted at a meeting at Harorgate's Civic Centre to make a donation to the annual bonfire to help pay for portable toilets at the event.
Cllr Josy Thompson, who represents Duchy ward on the council, proposed the funding as the bonfire was a “benefit to the community”.
She said:
I just wanted to say that this event is a community event. They work incredibly hard to build the bonfire and it benefits local charities.
Cllr Thompson added that the donation would go towards portable toilets, which were required as the current public facilities on the Stray were “out of action”.
Meanwhile, Cllr Monika Slater, who represents New Park ward on the council, added that the event was the type of initiative that the town council “should be supporting”.
Town councillors agreed to the donation and offered to help volunteer at the event.
The move comes as the Harrogate Round Table has struggled to cover the costs for the event in recent years.
In a statement on its website issued ahead of this year’s event, the charity said it has to pay “unavoidable costs” of £15,000 for areas such as fireworks, road traffic management, first aid provision, equipment and licensing.
It added:
Many people think that the council puts on (or funds) the Stray fireworks but that is not the case. In fact Harrogate RoundTable have to pay a £1,000 deposit to the council in order to put the event on. Every year the generous donations of the public not only cover the costs of the event, but generate a surplus in aid of a local charity.
The free event will include entertainment from 5pm, before the bonfire is lit at 6.30pm. The highly-anticipated firework display will start at 7.15pm.
The bonfire will be held on Saturday, November 8.
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