The organisers of next month’s Letchworth Festival say they have broken all records for independent commercial sponsorship and advertising, with more than £7,000 already promised.
The annual festival, set to start on June 10, has been pledged £3,000 by retirement homebuilder McCarthy & Stone – with significant sums also coming from car dealer Progress Suzuki and Nuffield Health and Fitness Centre.
The health centre is sponsoring the children’s art competition during this year’s festival, and have also volunteered ‘support in kind’, including gym passes as prizes.
A Nuffield team will also run a stall with health and fitness activities on the festival’s opening day.
According to Letchworth Festival sponsorship manager Hilary Kemp, this is a fantastic result.
She said: “It is great to see that business is prepared to support the festival, particularly at a time when finances are tight.
“Advertising is significantly up on previous years, while sponsorship – which this year has topped £4,000 – was previously non-existent.
“This means we are less dependent on councils and the Heritage Foundation, both of whom have financial pressures of their own – and this fits with our long-term vision of growing the Letchworth Festival while being less reliant on public subsidy.
“While we wouldn’t wish to cut ties completely – North Herts District Council is still providing a £1,500 grant towards Proms in the Park on the final day, June 25 – we do need to acknowledge that all public activity needs to be more measured.”
Elaine Stratford from McCarthy & Stone said: “As a company, we take seriously our responsibility to create a positive legacy in the communities in which we build, and we are therefore very pleased to lend our support to this year’s Letchworth Festival.
“We are looking forward to playing a part in what promises to be a hugely successful event.”
Natasha Smith from Nuffield Health added: “We are delighted to be supporting this year’s Letchworth Festival.
“We look forward to engaging with our community with lots of exciting activities – celebrating all that our area has to offer and the part that Nuffield Health plays within it.”
To find out more see letchworthfestival.org or look on Facebook and Twitter.
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