Another successful year for the Royal Welsh
The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society made a surplus last year of £781,395. The figure reflects a record contribution of £433,960 from Ceredigion, the feature county at 2010 Royal Welsh Show, raised towards the new Food Hall and a personal gift of £250,000 from an anonymous donor in aid of the Members’ Centre.
The phenomenal support of the people of Ceredigion and the incredibly generous gift from a member of the society, which also attracted gift aid of approximately £70,000, were immense contributions to the financial well being and stability of the RWAS that will doubtlessly be remembered in the annals of the society, said the chairman of the Royal Welsh board of management, Mr David Lewis, in his report for the year. The surplus was a highly satisfactory result especially at such a fragile time for the economy, he added.
“On that particular note now is perhaps an appropriate moment to draw attention to a potential downturn in our fortunes,” Mr Lewis said. “During the next 12 months as government cuts begin to take effect on peoples’ spending power it is possible that we may be faced with lower attendances at our three major events and therefore we must be constantly aware of this threat. However, having mentioned this, I remain confident and optimistic that as long as the society provides its supporters with value for money in terms of interest, entertainment and superb showground facilities, we shall continue to flourish and to attract people from across Wales, the rest of the UK and countries around the world.”
Mr Lewis said the year under review got off to an excellent start with the two-day Smallholder and Garden Festival which made a surplus over expenditure of £55,852. It was the 10th Festival to be staged by the society and it attracted an attendance of 25,179, an increase of nearly 1000 on 2009.
At the show in July neither the torrential rain on the second day nor the recession deterred the crowds bound for the showground and when 70,613 visitors passed through the gates creating a record single day attendance it was clear that the show would be yet another triumph for the society. By the end of the final day 231,346 visitors had attended the event and this resulted in a surplus over expenditure of £304,067.
“ Another event which proved extremely successful both financially and as a remarkably exciting spectacle was the Golden Shears World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships. This was a major undertaking, meticulously organised, in which competitors from 27 countries took part. It was watched by huge audiences at the Shearing Centre and the considerable effort put into staging the event, which was subsequently acclaimed one of the best ever, was rewarded when it produced a surplus of some £30,000. This is a feather in the cap of the society of which I think we can be justly proud,” said Mr Lewis.
The Winter Fair was yet again an event afflicted by bad weather which saw six inches of snow fall on the showground lowering temperatures to minus 18 degrees. However, the cold and the snow failed to stop visitors and over 20,000 attended. The result was an impressive performance which produced a surplus of £49,232.
Referring to recent major projects carried out on the showground at Llanelwedd, Mr Lewis said the year had seen the completion of the new Food Hall at a cost of £1.77m, improvements to the main ring which demanded an investment of £200,000, and the construction of a new Members’ Centre at a cost of £1,019,000, sponsored by Montgomeryshire.
The two storey structure located at the south-east end of the main ring provides 750sqm with a dining area, mezzanine level, fully glazed façade and balcony with good views over the main ring.
“As with the Food Hall the new Members’ Centre will be another significant resource for the society and the showground and our grateful thanks are due to the people of Montgomeryshire and to the significantly generous donation of the anonymous benefactor whose munificence made this much appreciated new facility possible,” he said.
Turning to the need for awareness of the present harsh economic climate and the possible effects this may have on the fortunes of the society, Mr Lewis said that undoubtedly there would be challenges ahead and they would have to proceed with caution, but at the same time he was confident about their future prospects because the Royal Welsh was such a vibrant and progressive society.
“We have a robust and enthusiastic membership who are the lifeblood of the society, a volunteer force of stewards whose sterling qualities can always be relied upon, and a feature county structure which year by year demonstrates the goodwill and generosity that exists throughout Wales towards the Royal Welsh,” he said. “In addition to these tremendous resources we have the support of an appreciative public who come to Llanelwedd in their thousands to enjoy the main show and the other two big events. With all this in our favour how can one not be anything but optimistic about the future?”
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