Staggered by accusations
I was staggered to read the letter by name and address supplied about the so-called profiteering by The Alnwick Garden at the Jubilee party.
I am not one of the organisers, but I was one of the many volunteers who gave up, over a three-day period, well over 20 hours of time to attend briefings and meetings and then the event itself, and the two on the previous day.
Many of us stood for over seven hours on the night in question and those who travelled in paid their own petrol costs to be there.
Several salaried staff also gave of their time, in addition to the huge amount of hourly paid staff needed to ensure all the events went off without a hitch.
Can of beer – as I understand it, it was a larger sized can than normal and a very fair price, compared to pub prices.
Jar of Pimms you say. Are you confusing the Jam Jar Army with your sizes? It was a large jug of Pimms. I heard one family saying how many glasses they got out of it, and they thought it was real value for money.
As you mentioned, the event itself was free. The Duke and Duchess of Northumberland allowed their land to be used over the three-day period without charge. You could park for free in Greenwell Lane.
Someone had to pay for the screen, the tents, the paramedics on standby, the toilets, the staff costs, fire, security and safety staff – the list goes on.
In the case of the food, you were not obliged to buy it as you could have brought a picnic, and if you had had a soft drink then the whole event would have cost you nothing. Profiteering, poppycock. The small profit made went to offset the costs of the whole event you enjoyed for free. Perhaps a thank-you to those who will pay the final bill might have been more in order.
The week before the event, my husband and I were in London on holiday.
We paid £38 for a 15-minute journey from Heathrow to Paddington, and in a hotel which was not five-star we had a large glass of red wine and a glass of champagne which, with the already added-in service charge, came to the grand total of £28.35.
Get real, Mr or Mrs Anonymous, profiteering by The Alnwick Garden it was not.
Margaret Whittaker
Longframlington
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Weather for Northumberland
Thursday 20 June 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 11 C to 15 C
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