Fireworks « The Tales of Solihull Round Table

£12,000 in 2012 giveaway

23 02 2012

The Mayor of Solihull presenting a number of local groups with donations from Solihull Round Table

Groups including Solihull Guide Dogs, Coppice Junior School, Parkview Day Centre, 492 Solihull Squadron ATC, FastAid and Reynaulds Cross School have all received support from Solihull Round Table

Charities, community groups and clubs from across Solihull are being offered a share of £12,000 by Solihull Round Table during 2012. This donation by Solihull Round Table is hoping to make a difference to a number of organisations feeling the pinch from the economic downturn.

The initiative, ‘12 for 12’, which launched on Monday with a presentation to a number of groups by the Mayor, has been possible due to the over-whelming success of their annual Fireworks event and Christmas Collections.

Solihull Round Table has traditionally supported local causes but never in its 63-year history has been able to give away this kind of sum and make such a difference to the numerous charities and organisations that put so much back into the community.

Current Chairman, Paul Jennings, is eager to give the community some much-need support.

“We really want to make a difference to those groups who put so much into the community and we’re in a position to do this following the success of our fireworks and Christmas events,” he said “We are aware that there are a lot groups who have special projects or those that struggle for financial support but give so much back and I am not sure how many organisations are aware that we can help them.”

“We hope that through ‘12 for 12’ people will get a greater understanding of what Round Table is about and the part it plays in the community. Being able to giveaway £12,000 is a marvellous achievement and we’re looking forward to helping a number of charities.”

Solihull Round Table will meet a number of times throughout the year and will assess applications at that time. Organisations are not restricted to how much they can request but must complete the application form. The deadline for the first round of applications is 5^th April 2012.

Organisations who want to be considered for a share of the ‘12 for 12’ fund should submit their request via an official application form, which they can request by emailing 12for12@solihullroundtable.co.uk

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Tags: charity, Christmas Collections, Fireworks, Solihull Round Table
Categories : charity, Uncategorized

Fireworks 2011

30 09 2011

Fireworks 2011

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Tags: Bonfire, Fireworks, Solihull, Solihull Round Table
Categories : Fireworks, Solihull Round Table

Fireworks Spectacular 2010

1 10 2010

In just over a month’s time Solihull Round Table will be lighting up the Solihull skyline yet again as this year’s Fireworks Spectacular is ignited.

Yet again, thanks to sponsorship, we have been able to provide this fantastic evening FREE OF CHARGE

Solihull Round Table Fireworks 2010

The Details:

THE EVENT IS FREE
Saturday 6th November
Tudor Grange Park
From 5.30pm
Free parking will be available in Monkspath Hall Car Park (with thanks to Solihull Council)

Entertainment

BRMB will be on site to entertain you and a number of local schools and scout groups will be providing food and novelties for sale.

The Good Cause

Every member of Round Table gives their time freely and for what we think is a fantastic local community event. This year we are truly honoured to say that we will be supporting the local charity TroopAid and we hope you will also support them by giving generously on the evening.

(To find out more about TroopAid read our previous Blog entry here.)

Sponsorship

It is with great thanks, and without whose help this event could not take place, that we acknowledge our fantastic sponsors this year:

Fireworks Partners:

John Lewis Solihull

Specsavers Solihull

Touchwood Solihull

Hospitality Partner

Ramada Solihull

Venue Partner

Solihull Council

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Tags: 5th November, Bonfire, Display, Fireworks, Solihull, Solihull Round Table, Tudor Grange
Categories : charity, Community, Fireworks, Solihull Round Table

The smoke clears – Fireworks 2009

11 11 2009

Fireworks 2009

Saturday the 7th November 2009 came and went with a GREAT BIG BANG.

Carlos from Smooth Radio

The free fireworks display held by Solihull Round Table attracted approximately 4,000 people and raised ~£3,000 for charity. Thank you to all of you who came and made the night so wonderful, the atmosphere was great and Carlos from Smooth Radio really got the crowd going.

6 months ago a very different story was emerging.

Last’s years display proved to be a tipping point for Solihull Round Table and some serious decisions had to be made regarding the future of the display. The amount of charity money raised proved to be very low and the attendance on the night was also poor.

Over the previous few years a variety of marketing and promotion techniques were employed to publicise the event and changes to the format of the evening also were tried. However the rot was setting in and no matter how hard we tried or whatever we changed the numbers were falling, the costs were going up and the donations to charity were going down. We came to the conclusion that the competition for fireworks in Solihull was too great even for such an established display as the Round Table one.

A new proposal

At a very heated meeting it was clear that something had to change or we would have to cancel fireworks for the first time in over 30 years. It was agreed that a totally new format would be required which was radically different from previous years. For inspiration we looked to our Round Table colleagues across the country who also put on major displays and took their ideas and made it our own.

The proposal was that we would have a free display, paid for by sponsorship, and by working with Solihull Council would hold it in Tudor Grange park which was a much larger venue that before. In addition we decided to limit costs where ever possible and have the event earlier so that we could attract more people which would also allow them to support their usual fireworks event later in the evening.

A team of tablers was formed who worked to finalise the plans and raise the sponsorship. These volunteers worked extremely hard giving up many days of their own time through meetings with the fire service, the police, the council, sponsors and firework companies – even down to walking around Solihull with placards around their neck’s promoting the event!

A marketing plan was put into place and we pleaded with businesses and the public to help support us and by September we felt that we were in a position to agree to go ahead with the display. From that point onwards the marketing switched gear to promotion and we pushed the event in as many different ways as we felt it was possible to make sure that everyone had the chance to know about it.

The crowd at Fireworks 2009

The results were amazing! Our biggest risk was that no one would show up and the whole event would be a failure, luckily this never happened. We were lucky enough to have wonderful weather which helped entice a huge crowd to the display. Judging from how generously the crowd supported us we can only conclude that they enjoyed the show.

Feedback

I would like to invite your feedback regarding the display in comments below – but please remember that this was a free event, put on by volunteers and that it was a new venture. I invite constructive criticism – but I will delete any personal or offensive remarks.

Thank you again to all of you who supported the event in any way.

Solihull RT.

(Thanks and acknowledgement to Smooth Radio for the photos of the event)