Cowgate Bonfire Night 2015

The biggest night in the calendar of the community centre where I work went off surprisingly easily- thanks to the excellent event management company we hired. I was told that previous years had attracted around 3,500 people, we counted 4,700 people onto the site and a conservative estimate of the people who watched in large groups from nearby was at least another 500. It should be noted that only 2,500 people live on the estate.

The last two weeks have been quite tortuous as things I'd been promised since May evaporated. Some of the grant aid was refused- but reinstated on the day of the event! I had become so worried that I began to reduced the programme to what I was confident could be done well. In the event I was walking all over the site passing information etc all through the event and had to wait to the end to lock up. My boss had asked how I was going to capitalise on so many people coming to the centre so we could pass information to them about the programmes etc but the more I thought about it, all I could see was a sea of litter and they certainly weren't in the mood for listening to speeches.

Having seen how the space worked for the bonfire night, I am excited about an outdoor music gig next year if we can get the right Headline performer we could earn a tidy sum to subsidise programming. My biggest fear is the North East Weather! I'm also in chats with people about having a camp under canvass there next summer. Scouts and T.A. are interested in helping. If the weather gets bad during the camp we will have access to the hall where the YMCA is based...

Next year's event will be better! I have a preliminary meeting with tenant organisations on 1st December and we will start planning in earnest in early March.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bon Voyage, Mon Enfant!

Image
It's hard dealing with the lack of communication let alone discussion of my Godson's immediate future. Its hard not to view my part in his recent past as a failure. The point is that it is over and I need to move on whilst there is still some relationship left between us. I'm getting quite 'Zen' in covering my frustrations with calm.  My Godson has always been unwaveringly CERTAIN of any decision concerning his learning that was opposed to mine. He was SURE that the scant attention he gave to his studies would at least yield passes. He dismissed my protestations that higher grades offered greater prospects as irrelevant. In exasperation I finally  reminded him and his father that he was here to go to school and that when that ended he would leave my home. His school career recently ended when he did not secure the grades to enrol into the final year.  My Godson is and always has been capable of cruising through a standard UK education, but it wasn't impo
Read more

Waiting!

Image
I love working with other people and I absolutely hate it too! I love it when I get people together who agree to do stuff but I get twitchy when they're late and I remember that everyone's doing everything "at risk" unless I'm fortunate-enough to have cash with which to bribe them! Yesterday I completed my proposal for our new proposed Main Project- I'm really pleased with it and very excited to submit it, but it would be a mistake not to share it with my colleagues- they're a great bunch when I can get their attention! I have always to remember that they're not as committed to the company as I am: they joined as a favour to me initially and though they've all benefited from it at some time in the last five years... except Wayne who we all forgot was on the Board -including him lol I can't expect anything from them really. So, I get into waiting for responses and starting other things and forgetting that I'm waiting (I'd get annoyed
Read more

Gyre

Image
From time to time I notice the patterns I make in my life; the recurring themes, the 'deja vu and 'Oh, not again!' moments... I don't spend much time on self-reflective introspection out of a combination of embarrassment and fear. It hasn't stopped me unloading onto one or two toking-buddies on a regular basis, but I try not to be one of those who becomes so intimate with their own navels that they're end up being dull or even toxic. The fear is also about having to focus on the things in plain sight that I choose not to see or wrongly ascribe to factors out of my control. When I was a (sole black) first year drama student at university I was ever-so-gently cornered by all three of the lecturers and asked what I thought about playing Othello. I was surprised enough to think it was a joke and quipped that I couldn't play Othello (I was 18 and seven or eight weeks into a degree course) and that they were only asking me to save on make up (or something li
Read more