Letter from Richard Howard to all Competitors
Re: World Conker Championships 2011 and 2012 Update
Thursday Novemver 17th, 2011
Dear Conker Player
I am sorry it has taken a little while getting back to you regarding the cancellation of the 2011 championships.
The Reasons - Firstly let me explain again why we had to cancel:
- When we started preparing the venue for the event on the Thursday before the Conker Day, the site was plagued with very high and blustery winds blowing along the Nene river valley and straight up over the event site. We tried erecting the marquees, stalls etc but were fighting a losing battle. It soon became obvious to me that to try and continue would prove unsafe for those volunteers working on this site. I therefore made the decision to stop work at about 11am.
- We then looked at the forecast for Friday through to Sunday, searching a number of weather websites as well as contacting the Met Office. Whilst the wind was expected to ease off on Friday evening, the forecast was for it to come back with a vengeance on Sunday. It looked like being even worse than on the Thursday.
- We therefore had to make a quick decision on our options for holding the event. We got together on Thursday evening and made the unanimous decision to cancel the event for this year. As you know, we then undertook the mammoth task of contacting all concerned by email, phone, radio, TV, etc. We were extremely successful in this and I must thank the committee members involved for all their hard work.
- We also had people up at the site on Sunday to explain what had happened to anyone who turned up (there were only 4 people). Whilst it was calm first thing, the wind got steadily worse and, by mid-morning, was very strong and blustery. Those up there at that time felt that we were right to have made the decision to cancel.
So, were we right to cancel? It's easy after the event to say 'we could have done this or that' but, I believe that it was a decision we had to make. It was a particularly difficult decision for me personally as I have been involved in the championships for 37 of the 46 years that it has been running. Although I felt it was the right decision – I felt 'gutted'.
It was also very sad that we were unable to raise the money for the visually impaired as we usually do. As you probably know, we have raised over £400,000 to date from conkers with £21,000 of this being raised in 2010. Sadly, we will not be able to help them this year.
The Future - So what is the future of the World Conker Championships?
Well, you will be pleased to know that, after a short time to get over things, the committee have met up and the unanimous feeling was, let's put this behind us and start planning for 2012. We will need to look at all aspects of the event (including the venue) to try and ensure that we do not have similar problems in the future. However, there will be a 2012 World Conker Championships we are confident that the event will be a great success. We do hope that you will continue to support us.
Competitor Entry Fees – So, what do we do with the entry fee from competitors?
Whilst speaking to competitors, many have declared a wish to carry their fee over to the 2012 Championships. However, some have said that they prefer a refund whilst others have suggested donating it to the visually impaired. We would therefore ask you to choose one of the following options:
- Carry the fee over to your entry in the 2012 Championship
- Have a Refund of the fee
- Donate the fee to the Visually Impaired
Could you please let us know your choice, as soon as possible, by sending us an email using the subject line of 2012 (for carrying over), REFUND, or DONATE. If your choice is for a refund, please bear with us whilst we produce a cheque and post it to you. If you have not replied already, send your email to:
Note: If we don't hear from you with a positive "I want to play in 2012" or "I want a refund" by December 31st 2011, your entry fee will be donated. We can't roll over entries automatically because we risk having a competition filled with "ghost" players who won't turn up to play.
Raffle Tickets – What about the 2011 Raffle?
We have received many tickets back and will therefore make the draw shortly. If you still have stubs and money for sold tickets, please get them back to us straight away and we will include them in the draw. The closing date for receiving the tickets back is the 30th November. Please post raffle tickets and money to:
Paul Crawley
Carpenters Cottage,
13 Achurch,
Oundle
Northants,
PE8 5SL
In conclusion –
May I finish be saying that we do understand how upset you were at the cancellation of the championships for the first time in 47 years. May I also say how much we appreciated the words of sympathy and support that came from the vast majority of you. We will do our utmost to ensure the 2012 World Conker Championship is a great event.
I look forward to hearing back from you regarding the entry fee and the raffle.
Regards
Chairman, Ashton Conker Club