Bonnybridge Gala Day cancelled due to 'ever-changing COVID-19 situation'

The organisers of Bonnybridge Gala Day have been forced to cancel this year’s event because of the “ever-changing COVID-19 situation”.
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A decision was taken last night to scrap the annual event, which was scheduled to take place on August 1, with preparations and fundraising badly impacted by the government-imposed lockdown.

A tweet from the gala committee read: “We have made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s gala.

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“This is due to the ever-changing COVID-19 situation and although we are hopeful our lives will have returned to normal by August, we are unable to fundraise, rehearse or prepare the event our community deserves.”

Bonnybridge Gala Day won't be taking place in 2020 due to the outbreak of coronavirus. Picture: Alan Murray.Bonnybridge Gala Day won't be taking place in 2020 due to the outbreak of coronavirus. Picture: Alan Murray.
Bonnybridge Gala Day won't be taking place in 2020 due to the outbreak of coronavirus. Picture: Alan Murray.

With children selected for the retinue and stall holders and entertainment all set to add colour to the occasion, those behind the scenes say they were “devastated” to axe the gala.

The seven-strong committee held its first fun day five years ago and has since put on four gala days.

While members’ first thoughts are for the safety of others, they’re also eager to make up for the cancellation and are already looking ahead to next year.

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Elizabeth Martin, Bonnybridge Gala Day committee member and former vice chairwoman, said: “It was a very tough decision to make.

“I was devastated when we made the decision.

“We can’t do any fundraising and we don’t have enough money to have it this year.

“We would’ve been doing fundraising just now. It was going to be on August 8 but we changed it to August 1.

“The council said they couldn’t see it going ahead but we made the decision ourselves.

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“We are really, really sorry. We’ve had to go round all the stall holders and parents and apologise.

“We weren’t able to meet up with the children to do a retinue rehearsal. We did a couple but not enough.

“It will be on August 1 next year and when this is all over we will start fundraising.

“One of our fundraisers is normally a Halloween party and we do prize bingo events, a talent show and we’ve had a seance before.”

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