Saddleworth’s Beer Walk Called Off Because Of Rising Costs
Beer Walk June 2011
One of Saddleworth’s biggest fundraising events has been cancelled.
The Saddleworth Beer Walk, which helped raise up to £45,000 each year for local good causes, has been called off for financial reasons.
According to the Oldham Advertiser, organisers from the Saddleworth Round Table have been told they’d need to cover the costs of managing traffic and the post-event clean-up for the first time. That’s estimated at £58,000, so the organisers have decided to call the event off.
Nobody from the Round Table had got back to Saddleworth News with a comment by the time this article was published. If they do, I’ll add it in here.
The Saddleworth Beer Walk traditionally takes place the day after Whit Friday. Last summer’s event was the 38th, and it’s grown from small beginnings so that now thousands of people turn up in fancy dress every year, drinking and marching around the villages. Fundraisers walk from Greenfield, through Uppermill, Dobcross, Delph, Diggle and back, and are rewarded with a drink at ten beer stations.
However, there was criticism of this year’s event when it seemed that many of the beer walkers hadn’t paid the £20 entry fee, and were simply tagging along with the crowd with their own supplies of beer.
Coverage of this year’s Saddleworth Beer Walk from Saddleworth News can be found here. You can read the Oldham Advertiser’s story here.
What do you think about the cancellation of the Beer Walk? If you’d like to share your views, please leave a comment below this article.
Author: Jude Gidney - Editor
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Very sad.
Is this the thin edge of the wedge?
Will the Whit Friday brass band competitions, the Yanks weekend and the Rushcart be forced out too?
It’s a crying shame but if it’s too dear it’s too dear. I know it’s going to hit a lot of local pubs and shops hard. Maybe they could contribute.
As for folk just tagging on, I’ve seen it happen – they’ve not quite got the right idea have they? Dear me.
There are already groups calling for an unofficial beerwalk (again missing the point about charity but at least they’re trying to keep it alive. The danger there is that it won’t be policed at all. There could be trouble and then it’d end up being banned in perpetuity.
I’d rather it miss a year and come back officially I think.
Worst thing to happen . . ever 🙁 Let’s hope something can be sorted out for the year after. A grant maybe? Putting the price up to £30. Knocking out a beer stop?! I suspect it will happen in some form or another in an unofficial capacity anyway. To say the event is heavily beer fuelled I think it’s one of the best in the calendar. It’s a knockout for both the people watching and the participants.
No one can argue though that the clean up and safe management is #1 priority.
Yet another example of the cultural sabotage taking place in Saddleworth. Will Saddleworth has its own history, its own culture, it even used to have its own dialect.
In a year when £5.7 million was lent to Oldham Athletic to help them rebuild the stand they chose to rip down, Oldham Council can’t afford £58,000 to run an event that raises that mcuh again for charity, provdies tourists and business for pubs, eateries, shops and accommodation stops.
It’s an absolute disgrace and amounts to nothing short of cultural repression. Why not just get it over and done with, get rid of the name Saddleworth and call it Oldham East.
Should have read ‘once Saddleworth had its own’ hard to keep writing correctly in my fury!
This was always going to be the outcome,an event that gets huge publicity that involves alcohol will always attract the wrong crowd. Its a tragic that the minority have ruined another otherwise fantastic event. I wouldnt be surprised though if a large number of die hard fans still turn up at 1 o’clock on sat the 2nd of june next year. Not that i am suggesting anything….
I have walked on the last 17 beerwalks and know the route blindfolded, what is to stop anybody turning up on Churchill playing fields on the Saturday after whit Friday and setting off at 2 oclock, They could buy beer at the same pubs and enjoy the day and the walk, and if they turned up in fancy dress with a collecting permit what is to stop them collecting copper coins on their way round to donate to charity.
There are laws against drinking in the street, so if resposable people had a pint in the pub or beer garden there would be no litter, no underage drinking just a good day out, the council may have banned the Beerwalk but I will still turn up on the day for a good walk with friends and then back home for a BBQ “Silly not to”
Maybe it needs to go back to basics or be better organised so that people can’t get away with not paying. I’m sure plenty would volunteer to keep this local tradition going.
Definite shame yes. For a minute let’s pay thanks to the round table team that have kept this tradition going for so long already helping to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds. I’m sure that they looked into every known option available to them before coming to this conclusion and the decision wasn’t taken lightly at all. Sadly we live in an increasingly litigative society which has a knock on effect to health and safety and eventually the bottom line cost be it from the police, council or insurance and I’m guessing this has played a part.
‘ The beer walk has been going for 38 years ! It might not be everyone’s cup of tea – or pint of bitter ! – but it raises tens of thousands of pounds for charity every year.(I understand over £40,000 was raised this year). It is also important for the local economy – and not just the pubs. As we teeter on the edge of recession with local businesses struggling to survive, no decision like this should be taken by the Police alone.
I know Greater Manchester Police face swinging cuts in their budget, something I have consistently opposed, but this isn’t just a policing matter – the implications for the community and local businesses must be a factor in making a decision to charge the organisers this prohibitive amount.
I want to know if there has been any input on this decision from elected councillors and the business community. Are the Police in anyway publicly accountable ? Is this a decision made at local, Divisional or Greater Manchester level ? What are the implications for other major community events, not just in Saddleworth but in Oldham and the rest of Greater Manchester ?
Unfortunately the event has turned into an excuse for a minority of louts to stagger drunkenly around the streets of Saddleworth. I for one am not sorry to see it cancelled in its present form having had several people urinating in my garden and disposing of all sorts of rubbish. The council don’t come and clear my garden up.
The local councillors have got to start backing councillor Hulme who fights for Saddleworth you never see any other councillor in the Saddleworth news speaking out or having a go at Oldham Boro Council. This is Yorkshire and the whit friday tradition as been going years and if they could they would kick it out, look what they did to Churchill playing fields the councillor behind that crazy idea Councillor beesley when does she say anyhting good for Saddleworth, if the councillors can,t fight for Saddleworth get out and let someone do it will speak out.
I don’t drink beer but I do think that the Beer Walk should go ahead next year and every year. The Beer Walk is an annual Saddleworth event which raises money for charity and brings visitors to the area. It is also good fun for both walkers and watchers. As I understand it, the main reasons for the proposed cancellation of the Beer Walk are the high cost of policing coupled with the large number of non-paying walkers. It must be possible to have some sort of tagging system to identify legitimate walkers and I’m sure that policing costs could be reduced by re-routing the walk away from traffic using bridleways and public footpaths. Some of the post event clean-up could be done by local volunteers further reducing costs and perhaps those businesses who benefit from the Beer Walk could contribute to a fund. Of course there is probably a political angle to all this but rather than just accepting the cancellation I think we should lobby our representatives and give them constructive ideas on how to keep the Beer Walk going. I’m going to email our MP. Her address is:
debbie.abrahams.mp@parliament.uk
I heard a rumour that the Saddleworth Independence Party (SIP) are now thinking of organising a protest march at the same time, same day and same route as the Beer Walk – having quite a few SIP’s of ale in local pubs en route.
Try and stop 3000 moving people. The walk will still go ahead. The pubs still want our money. I just hope the emergency services are ready- there’s always a minority out to ruin it. Side note- What’s the point in criticising “taggers-on” who bring their own beer? How could that ever be stopped? That’s the norm on Beer Walk day. I don’t know many people who actually get the stamps.
While I agree its a good tradition raising money for charity its now becoming a nightmare for the residents with the idiots taking over and spoiling what was a good and enjoyable cause. Once again something as been banned through the irresponsible morons spoiling it for everyone. It is after all supposed to be a charitable event not a pub crawl. The council are very good at clearing up the main roads etc but not in peoples private gardens and fields, I have even been told of morons urinating and even excretment all over the place. Whats the point in raising money for charity and spending it policing and cleaning.
Surely the beer walk cannot simply be justified on the basis of raising money for charity; although that seems to be the primary argument that people are making.
It takes £58,000 of taxpayers’ money to raise £45,000 for charity. How can anyone think that’s a good deal?
I suspect much of the £45,000 pounds will be given to charities anyway, because many of the people who would have sponsored the beer walk, will sponsor something else, and many who would have taken part in the beer walk for charity will find some other activity to do instead.
Why should the police have to pick up the costs for an event which (despite the intentions of its organisers) attracts people who just want to be part of a mass drunken racket?
Yes, some of the money winds its way back to charities, but local businesses are probably the bigger beneficiaries. If it is that important to them, they should club together to raise the funds themselves.
The police have not called off the event. They have just decided not to pay for it. It sounds like the police are being sensible with public money.
Saddleworth has an amazing number of cultural and charity initiatives ranging from nil cost to very cheap. Beer walk, Duck Races, Rushcart, Saddleworth Village Olympics, The Players, various choirs and music groups, Yanks and the Band Concert.
This news is a threat to all of them, particularly those held outside. Many of themm bring trade and tourism into the area.
Why is this happening? Maybe government cuts mean official organisations have to charge for previously free services!!!
” the p[olice ahve not call off the event they have just decided not to pay for it” ……. mr brooks, last year it cost under £5000 (as per freedom information) so please justify £50,000 costs this year. they are being sensible with public money are they?, £8000 on trees for there headqaurteres lobby, £10,000 on pictures for there wall. open your eyes mate. over the last 19 years of doing the beerwalk, i have raise in excess of £10,000 for christies. i hope you never need any help in the future and as for cleaning up, who cleans up the vomit, 10,000 empty beercans onwhit friday, where there are many many mopre arrests and acts of wanton violence. is it you. though not, maybe ban that as well!
and yes before you say it my typing and spelling is not very good, and no I’m not drunk!
Some one has to raise money for these charitys as the government is taking money from them. If you heard an MP speak last week, letters are being sent out to the OAP stating the cold weather allowance how much, andf also in the letter will be asking the OAP if they would like to hand it over to a Charity. That was being debated in Parliment last week, which a Liberal Democrat put forward.
James,
I think you incorrectly attributed my comments to John Brooks. John Brooks said something entirely different.
I am a little perplexed by you hoping I “never need any help in the future”. I certainly hope so too. I wouldn’t wish that illness upon anyone. I sincerely hope you didn’t intend that as a put-down; I never tried to belittle or criticise the work done by anyone on behalf of charities.
I never said that every police budgeting decision was prudent or fair, but based on the information provided, this one seemed to be.
You ask me to justify the £50000 costs – I am not going to. If you want an answer to that, ask the police. Perhaps send your own FOI request, or wait for a response to the open letter which, according to Saddleworth News, was sent by Paul Steele.
I suggested an alternative viewpoint based on the figures in this article. If those figures aren’t correct (I’m sure we’ll find out in due course), then the argument is different.
If the figures were to be correct, I maintain that the fundraising argument is flawed. That’s not to say that the event shouldn’t go ahead for other reasons, but it is not up to us to micromanage the economy by diverting substantial amounts of public money into an expensive event, only for a smaller amount of individuals’ hard-earned money to be raised for charities. It would be better to fight for the government/council to give the money directly to charities. If that were to happen, the charities would automatically be better off and the individuals would still have the £45000 that they could use to support other fundraising events, or better yet, donate directly to charity without having to be persuaded.