Coronation event is cancelled, committee announces

The Kingsbridge Celebrates Christmas Committee has announced that their plans for a Kings Coronation event have been cancelled. 

The committee announced on social media that the plans were cancelled, sharing a statement that said that the decision was made due to the failure to secure funding, mainly from Kingsbridge Town Council. 

The statement read: "It is with a heavy heart that we have to announce we are cancelling our plans for the King’s Coronation weekend.

"We wanted to deliver a series of events that were free, inclusive and memorable. Many shared our vision, and we have had so much great feedback which spurred us on to keep organising before we knew for certain if we had the funds available.

"Our first meeting was on 1 March. Within a week we had everything sorted, from a massive screen, light and sound, music, picnic tables, deckchairs, first aid, overnight security and everything else in between, all ready to be booked. 

"We also had an estimated cost which, with lots of discount using our industry contacts, would have put on a three day long event for less than double what we spend on our one day event, Kingsbridge Celebrates Christmas.

"We had until 1 April to raise enough cash to put on the weekend.

"Our research led us to find other, smaller town councils that had committed to spend more than £6 per resident on their planned events. Those towns had already spent months preparing for what will be a once-in-a-generation event, of national importance.

"We went and spoke to Kingsbridge Town Council. They were willing to pledge £5,000 or 87p per resident. 

"Our County Councillor, Julian Brazil, pledged £1,000.

"We still needed to raise at least £11,000 by the end of this week to put on the minimum level event.

"We applied to the National Lottery Community Fund but, at this late stage, we were unsuccessful in our bid.

"We had some pledges of support from local businesses but we are still a long way off our target.

"Our attempt to 'Put the King back in Kingsbridge' has failed. Our focus shifts to organising Kingsbridge Celebrates Christmas.

"We are so sorry that we won't be able to celebrate this event as one big community and that Kingsbridge businesses won't benefit from the extra footfall an event would generate. 

"The Town Council will be lighting up the square trees each evening and there will be bunting in the town.

"If you are looking to celebrate with others that weekend, why not check out what Salcombe has on offer: www.southhams.com/events/king-charles-iii-coronation 

We have contacted Kingsbridge Town Council for a comment and we will update this story as soon as we can.