Bewdley Carnival to return following school campaign

A popular carnival is set to return after four years following a campaign led by schoolchildren to find new volunteers.

The Bewdley Carnival, Worcestershire, will take place on Saturday 24 June.

Postponed throughout the pandemic, this year's event had been cancelled after members of the committee announced their retirement.

But pupils at Bewdley Primary School called for local people to step in and new volunteers have come forward.

Several pupils participate in the parade each year and the event also features a funfair, local stalls, refreshments and entertainment from local performers.

Amanda Bradley, deputy head teacher, described how pupils were "devastated" when they had heard the carnival had been cancelled for another year.

She said the future of the event had been in doubt, after the existing committee had unsuccessfully searched for new volunteers.

"I think last November time, there was a meeting of the committee who were doing it in the past - they asked for locals to come along and kind of put some fresh blood into the committee," she explained.

Some of the previous members had volunteered for almost 50 years, she added.

"There was very much a community spirit, everybody wanted it to go ahead but nobody was putting themselves forward," she said.

"So we got some very cute kids on screen, saying, 'Please help, please volunteer', and then at the following meeting, there were 25 to 30 people who showed up."

A new committee was formed with local volunteers in January, enabling the event to go ahead as scheduled.

Ms Bradley said students were "so excited" and "absolutely over the moon," their campaign had been successful.

"There will be a carnival, it will go ahead, there's a parade, there's a fair, generally that spirit of the Bewdley Carnival will continue," she added.

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