Bridgwater Carnival Teams Up With Help For Heroes
June 2010
Bridgwater Carnival will have a military theme to the 2010 procession after forming a partnership with national charity, Help for Heroes.
The innovative partnership, which has been supported and sponsored by The Co-operative Funeralcare, was the idea of two local carnivalites, Alan Windsor and Jon Aherne.
The charity provides support and assistance to armed forces personnel who have been injured during combat, and on carnival night a 150 seat grandstand has been allocated to the popular charity so injured service men and women and their families can watch the carnival in relative comfort. Help For Heroes will also benefit from the carnival’s street collection activities and a whole host of military related ideas are being explored by the charity and Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival Committee for carnival day and night.
Alan Windsor, club captain for Marketeers Carnival Club, said: “John and I were talking one night about how much Bridgwater Carnival related activities boosts local businesses and charities, and we came up with the idea of supporting Help For Heroes. So we contacted the carnival committee, told them about our idea and now it’s all coming together really nicely.”
Jon Aherne, added: “Help For Heroes charity do an incredible amount of work for our injured service personnel and their families, and it is great that we have the opportunity to play our part in helping and supporting this wonderful cause.”
A VIP reception is being planned for the Help For Heroes group prior to the procession, and this will be hosted by members of the carnival committee and sponsors, The Co-operative Funeralcare.
Mark Robson, Funeral Director from The Co-operative Funeralcare, said: “We take our responsibilities to the local community very seriously, and we are extremely proud to be sponsoring a partnership between Help For Heroes and Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival. They are two very credible organisations who both do a tremendous amount of work in the local community, and I’m really looking forward to the big night.”
