It is with a heavy heart that the Chiddingfold Bonfire committee have decided to cancel our 2020 Bonfire Night event and so the next Chiddingfold Bonfire will now be on:
Saturday 6th November 2021
Our plans for this year’s event had been to make this an extra special Bonfire Night because the records in our archive indicated that November 2020 would be the 180th year of the Chiddingfold Bonfire.
Once the true impact of the pandemic became clear we realized we would need to take all possible precautions about the staging of this year’s event but remained hopeful it would be able to go ahead. In late July our hopes were raised as the Government indicated some initial public outdoor test events would be staged with a view to this leading to more such events, including ones such as our annual November celebration, being able to take place.
However, those test events were pushed back and so we felt we needed to make an early decision about the 2020 Bonfire, with the health and well-being of our wonderful village community and all those who visit us for the event central to our thoughts.
It became clear to us that to stage our event this year would represent too much of a risk and so we felt the only decision we could take was to let you all know that our 180th Bonfire Night will now be in November 2021.
We are sorry for the disappointment this will bring to all those, young and old, who enjoy it each November and who show their support by way of the money spent on the night and donated through our collecting buckets.
As many of you will know, the money collected in those buckets is turned in to vouchers that we then deliver to every village resident over the age of 70 which they can then spend in the various shops and businesses in the village.
Last year we were delighted to be able to make each voucher worth £45 and we know many recipients look forward to receiving and spending them in the run up to Christmas, and we in turn are pleased that the spending of those vouchers benefits our local business owners.
We have decided, therefore, that even though our next Bonfire night celebration will now be in November 2021 we will still distribute a voucher to all our usual recipients this year. The amount will be lower than last year, but we felt it was important to keep up this long-held tradition and to still make a distribution to everyone.
Update: Thank you to all those who have asked how they might donate. Please get in touch via our contact page if you want to help out with our charitable village activities in person or financially.
Finally, our team will be keeping busy this autumn by continuing to meet up each Saturday in the 6 weeks before Bonfire Night but instead of building the bonfire we will instead be doing a range of projects to help around the village. Plans already include work to improve some of the outdoor areas at the village primary school, plus working with helpers at both St Mary’s Church and St Theresa Church to help with some work to their grounds.
All new volunteers are always welcome so please do get in touch via our website or Facebook page if you would like to get involved.
In closing we would like to thank all of you in our wonderful village and those who have visited us every November to support the Chiddingfold Bonfire over so many years, and to assure you that our Bonfire and Fireworks will be back for everyone to enjoy in 2021.
Please continue to stay safe and look out for each other. Best wishes.
Simon Manuel
Chairman, Chiddingfold Bonfire