Worksop Jubilee organisers respond to ‘disappointment’ from visitors

Worksop’s celebrations for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee came under fire on social media after a poor attendance from the public on Saturday’s day of celebrations, and Sunday cancelled due to poor weather.

Many residents noted that a lack of organisation for the ‘once in a lifetime’ event meant a lack of entertainment in the town, and that the cancellation of Sunday could have been avoided by moving the event inside as Retford did.

One resident wrote online: “What I find difficult to understand is why there was no discussion with the wider public in terms of planning this event.”

Another said: “If it hadn't been for local armed forces cadets and a dance troupe then there would've been absolutely nothing on Jubilee Saturday in town.”

The celebrations, on June 4 and 5, were organised by a jubilee committee under the Worksop Business Forum (WBF), a community interest company made up of people striving to develop and support businesses in the town.

The committee received funding for the weekend from Bassetlaw District Council, the Charter Trustees and North Notts BID.

Representatives of Bassetlaw District Council attended celebrations, but the authority was not involved in the planning process.

The committee says they sent out requests for support to many businesses, schools, dance groups, cadet forces and other community groups, but many showed no interest in taking part.

Philip Jackson, chair of Worksop Business Forum and the jubilee committee, said: “We were pleased that the groups [that attended] offered support, but disappointed that we did not hear from many others.

“As this was a national event, it was obvious that the public would also be attending events local to them.

“This is very different to Pride or the Christmas light switch-on event which do not have other conflicting events taking place locally.

“The town’s pub and hospitality trade had prepared for a busy weekend but it did not happen as they also had a massive drop in customers over the weekend.

“With regard to Sunday’s event being cancelled, we felt that as we had also booked fair rides and a falconry display we could not move this inside, so we agreed to continue with the Jubilee celebrations last Saturday, which was a success.”

Continued celebrations

To make up for the cancelled celebrations on June 5, the committee continued the celebrations in Worksop on June 25 with free fair rides for the children, along with activities from stilt walking, balloon modellers, free face painting, crafts and an exclusive set from DJ Crystal.

Phil added: “This was a great day with lots of fun for a family day out. As always, the free rides and face painting had the longest queues.

“The event brought lots of families into town, which I hope some of the businesses benefited from.

“The Business Forum is extremely grateful to the council, Charter Trustees and the BID for the funds that help us put on these events which always bring additional visitors into town.

“Anyone with a business in town, or who has an interest in seeing Worksop improve, are invited to attend our monthly meetings and help with future events.”