Comments on: Wintersong or Christmas

By: admin

admin — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:54:34 +0000

Please note: NairnMatters has no association with Wintersong and we can't answer these questions. Perhaps you could put them direct - http://nairnwintersong.wordpress.com/

By: anon

anon — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:00:39 +0000

Could have all had a Co-op voucher to the value of £8 for Wintersong’s Day!

Admin says: ‘Many events in Nairn are run by volunteers but despite efforts to keep costs down we do need to buy-in specialists and other services’

Yes but if public money is involved there should be a list of all the payments to specialists – no need for names. The same goes for the Wintersong – we should be told a list of all the payments and what for. What is wrong with that? Please Wintersong will you please make all the payments public? You say you want to engage in debate about next year – let’s have all the facts on this year first!

By: happy

happy — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:54:39 +0000

£33,000 divided by the number of people on the street – quite an expensive night out. Certainly not worth it.

By: admin

admin — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 09:59:48 +0000

Let’s not turn this into a witch hunt. I’m all for transparency but just stop and think about this for a moment. Many events in Nairn are run by volunteers but despite efforts to keep costs down we do need to buy-in specialists and other services. Could anyone in Nairn have provided the lights and staging for Wintersong with all the Health and Safety issues to be reckoned with? There will always be a need for paid people to work alongside volunteers if any event is to be successful.

I think the issues we have to consider are:
Was this good value for money?
Is there a way of doing it better?
Should we be afraid of celebrating Christmas?

Inspire have to be appreciated for the work they have done and do by engaging and working with young people in projects. It would be a pity to lose that. The main thrust of this thread is that we would prefer to see a Christmas event on our streets. So if you are reading this Inspire, we know things can’t be done for nothing but let’s see if we can deliver an inspirational Christmas event next year.

By: well done Nairn Matters for Highlighting the money involved

well done Nairn Matters for Highlighting the money involved — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 09:32:12 +0000

Come clean with the payment figures Wintersong – No need for names just a list of all payments to folk involved – expenses too!

Well said Mal Function! Why give your time for free to community work if the person next to you is getting a nice check for ‘volunteering’!

By: anon

anon — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:28:08 +0000

‘Does anyone else know the answer to this and other questions raised?’

Yes the Wintersong group do. Time for information to be made public?

By: Mal Function

Mal Function — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:59:24 +0000

It’s fair to point out that the figures are budget forecasts, not actual spend. But even so, it is understandable that eyebrows have been raised. Look at the broad areas to which the money went:

- “actual” costs of the event (production, marketing, admin): approx £10,000

- direct overheads (production team, administrator, cty participants): £5,000

- fees and expenses (facilitators, consultant, travel & accom): over £20,000

Even if the eventual figures are slightly different, the overall balance is likely to be as shown. Is this sensible, and reasonable?

The Gurn is right to note, in his blog, that this event has highlighted the division between those (many) people of Nairn who give their time and skills voluntarily and freely to organising major local events such as the Highland Games, Farmers Show, jazz and arts festivals, and those involved in this one – who appear to have been very handsomely rewarded for a few weeks’ activity and a two-hour parade.

By: Bex

Bex — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:40:37 +0000

Well, Im not very pleased that they left the Wildcat Cheerleaders waiting to go on for 2 hours and it ended up, that they forgot to ask us to come on the stage!
Come on you can do better Nairn! And Im not pleased at all! >:(
x

By: admin

admin — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:58:45 +0000

Can’t help you with that Anon. Does anyone else know the answer to this and other questions raised? What I can say is that any constituted group is free to draft its own budget and seek funding. If the group does not have the confidence of funders then it won’t get the money. Inspire got the money! We can each take a view on whether or not this was money well spent. The group, I suspect, can then invite its own consultants, on its own terms. It’s not a job that has to be advertised in the normal way. You hire consultants rather than employ them. The group is likely to make all the other decisions as well.

By: well done Nairn Matters for Highlighting the money involved

well done Nairn Matters for Highlighting the money involved — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:19:59 +0000

Please answers to the questions, the community has the right to know plus one more:

Was the consultant’s job advertised?