WOKINGHAM Winter Carnival will have new organisers taking over this year.
After 21 years involvement, serving as committee chairman for the last five, Philip Mirfin will be handing over the reins to the Wokingham Lions Club.
Following the announcement, Mr Mirfin presented Andy Goffin, president of the Wokingham Lions and Tim Hanton, new chair of the Winter Carnival, with a cheque for £10,000 to help fund the 2022 event.
Mr Mirfin said: “Despite last year being a tight year with money and very few sponsors, this shows the success of how the carnival has been organised over the years.
“We managed to cut costs and control the money to still donate a reasonable amount to the three charities but also hand over £10,000 as an investment in this year’s carnival.”
The Wokingham Lions Club has organised the May Fayre since its inception in 1995 and Mr Hanton is excited at the opportunity to take on the carnival.
He said: “Firstly, thank you to Philip and the committee for all your hard work over the many years.
“For the Lions club it is an honour and a fantastic opportunity to take on the task of organising the carnival.
“Although there are many synergies between the Winter Carnival and the May Fayre, we want to keep them as two separate events.”
Mr Hanton also said that conversations are underway to plan this year’s event and despite some enforced changes, the carnival will retain many aspects that have made it such a success.
Along with the cheque given to the Wokingham Lions, Mr Mirfin was on hand to present cheques to the three nominated charities from last year’s event.
More than £8,000 was raised in 2021, and has been shared between The Link Visiting Scheme, Home-Start Wokingham and the town mayor’s chosen charity, the 3rd Wokingham Scouts.
Amy Fennell, fundraiser at Home-Start Wokingham, described the amount awarded as “incredible”.
Mr Mirfin ended the presentation by thanking the outgoing committee for all of their hard work in organising the annual event.
He said: “I want to thank you all for your assistance throughout my time as chairman and for your contributions towards the event.
“I must also say a big thank you to Grant Horsley and the fairground team for all their support given over the years and I’m sure that will continue for many more to come.”
