We had the bad news this week that the Wombourne Carnival will not be on since it started up 36 years ago.

This happened with just one month to go. Traditionally the carnival has always been on the first Sunday in July with floats, stands and a coming together of the Wombourne Community. But not this year.

Firstly, we at Wombourne Online would like to thank all the people involved in keeping the carnival going over the years. There are many unseen people that work tirelessly in the background.

And a big thank you to the chairman of the organising committee, Paul Edwards, who has said that members were ‘deeply saddened’ to have to pull the plug.

Growing Insurance Costs

It’s no secret that insuring the carnival has been a tough issue for the past few years.

Here’s what Paul told the Express and Star:

“We were left with no alternative but to take this drastic decision once it became clear last Friday that our current insurer would not cover the event and no other insurer was prepared to do so either.

“I had been fighting this for two months but we cancelled as soon as we got a definitive answer from the insurers so that people were given as much notice as possible.”

The public liability policy paid out around £3,000 to a woman who fell over a piece of netting in 2010 and last year a seven year old boy broke his leg on a slide. A claim against the fairground owner in relation to the most recent incident is waiting to be settled.

Mr Edwards explained: “Because this matter is still unresolved, the insurers say there is still the possibility of a claim against the carnival organisers. That, couple with the earlier pay out, meant our insurers and others were not prepared to consider covering the carnival until the outstanding claim has been resolved.”

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To read more about the full story, please visit the article at the Express and Star.