News
Countdown 2010 – Cancelled
Posted on 29 June 2009
It is with disappointment that we advise Countdown at Aurora stadium will not run this New Year's Eve.
Whilst the NYCIL committee had a wonderful working relationship with commercial event partners to deliver this celebration, we have been unable to secure any support through government departments or community grants to underwrite the event against risks outside of our control. With the high speed in which the event has grown, the costs in running the event have also increased and this means that the risk is now much higher in the case that it rains. Many people would not realise that the committee themselves (the people working for free) would be financially responsible for these losses so we sought extra funding from non-commercial areas to help ease the strain. All of these were declined.
The event itself is more than viable based on the extremely generous support of our event partners, many of whom had wanted to stay involved for years to come, some even increasing their contributions.
It must be remembered that Countdown is NOT a commercial operation and has a primary mission to provide a celebration that is affordable for everyone to enjoy - therefore raising the entry price was not an option and of course would not help anyway in the case of rain causing a cancellation.
The committee have not taken this decision lightly and have been working hard on applications to gain the non-commercial support required to secure this event for the long term. With only 6 months to go until event day, we had to make a decision that will allow the hundreds of suppliers, stallholders and charities to look at other avenues for work on the busiest night of the year.
Thank you to everyone who supported Countdown including once again our event partners who contribute nearly three quarters of the funds required to hold this event. This was not only a fantastic event for the social fabric of our community, it also had very strong financial benefits for our local economy.
We hope to be able to return the event in the future, once again allowing families the opportunity to celebrate together.
