On 23 Oct 2018 at 2:44am Challenger wrote:
How much money goes to the manufacturers of explosives each Bonfire season? I've never seen any published figures - not in the past 40 years at least. So here's a challenge to each Society . . . Tell us how much you spend on the fireworks that make up your magnificent displays.
On 23 Oct 2018 at 8:29am Mr wright wrote:
Is tesco open
On 23 Oct 2018 at 9:32am Why? wrote:
Why exactly do you ask? All the money they spend they raise themselves, there's no government funding or anything like that and apologies if this is pre-empting you a bit but if you're going to say what a huge waste of money it is and that it should be given to charity then perhaps the question should be instead how can you motivate thousands of people to give so enthusiastically of their time and money to charity? If you could tap into the community spirit bonfire generates then yes, you could potentially raise thousands for charity but I guess charities just aren't offering the same return in terms of community spirit and just plain fun that Bonfire does.
If you're just interested in how much it all costs, I'd suggest joining a society and attending the AGM where they'll happily tell you.
On 23 Oct 2018 at 9:40am Guidofawkes wrote:
Bonfire does raise thousands of pounds for charity..
On 23 Oct 2018 at 9:44am Guy wrote:
More interesting is how much does all the policing cost? And who pays for that?
On 23 Oct 2018 at 9:58am Toad in the hole wrote:
Well, Bonfire societies across the Sussex do collect thousands of pounds for charities. But don’t simplify it to just one event. Many events and activities that happen in Lewes are either as a direct result of the society organisation or supported by the Society’s I.e Lewes light, Late Night Shopping, Rememberance Sunday, Raft race, Lewes Remembers, Patina, Starfish in the park, Skittles, fates, Toad in the Hole ...etc.... Yes, Bonfire does have a few individuals within their ranks that believe Bonfire above all else, but get to know any of us, you’ll find we are all very normal people, with very normal lives who contribute to make Lewes the Town it’s famed for. Life in Lewes would be incredibly dull with out us.
On 23 Oct 2018 at 10:38am fete worse than death wrote:
Another fated post by Toad.
On 23 Oct 2018 at 10:44am Guy wrote:
@Challenger, why do you need to know? Just go along, support bonfire and enjoy it? I'm sure that would be a better use of your time than writing banal threads like this??
On 23 Oct 2018 at 10:50am Challenger wrote:
Thanks for your responses so far, but they are tending to be a bit defensive. When you offer to sell me a Bonfire Society programme, surely it's a fair question for me to ask. How much goes to buying fireworks, and how much to 'charity'?
On 23 Oct 2018 at 11:03am Fair enough wrote:
All the money from programme selling goes towards the event itself. All the money collected on the night goes to charity. Nobody selling a programme is claiming the money is going to charity. It actually says all of this in most of the programmes and in fact the Cliffe one includes rough figure of how much it costs to put on the night so buy theirs if you're interested.
On 23 Oct 2018 at 11:52am Ronnie Mc wrote:
Stopped buying the Cliffe programme when they stopped putting the bonfire guide in it
On 23 Oct 2018 at 2:11pm My guess wrote:
Across 7 societies £ 350k
On 23 Oct 2018 at 4:03pm Astrid wrote:
It cost 20k every yr to put on fireworks, cost of barriers and everything.
All this is paid for by public going to events during year. Members fees, fundraising events walks etc.
On the night usually over two chosen charities they will raise a couple of thousand.
But it's not a fair question to ask if you are then going to complain. Almost seems like you are looking for ammunition?
On 23 Oct 2018 at 4:39pm Old bert wrote:
The real cost of bonfire will be when all those timber framed shops, flats and houses go up in smoke, now all worth millions of pounds, go up in smoke in the High Street. It's the great fire of Lewes waiting to happen.
On 23 Oct 2018 at 4:54pm Slarty wrote:
@Old Bert
It's been happening (with organised societies) for 163 years and in an unorganised way prior to that. The buildings are still OK. I think that is a good enough track record to calm most minds.
On 23 Oct 2018 at 5:35pm @slarty wrote:
163 years ago those properties were 2/6d each, and brand new, not such a worry !! And there weren't such crowds blocking the streets. BTW they had lead paint and arsenic too !! Things change.
On 23 Oct 2018 at 5:56pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
The societies fundraise all year to get the money to put on their displays and street processions. The cost of the fireworks themselves is only a part of that, they also pay for security, fencing, signs, torches, insurance, bands and probably quite a lot that I've forgotten about. Where the public are charged for admission, that defrays some of the costs and profits from programme sales likewise.
I suspect that the biggest single source of income is member subscriptions: with the largest societies having around a 1,000 members, even if only half of those are adults paying the full sub, that's around £15k a year.
All the money raised in street collections on the night goes to charity.
On 23 Oct 2018 at 8:33pm My guess wrote:
As I said 50k each roughly
On 23 Oct 2018 at 8:58pm the money man wrote:
free to a lot of you
On 23 Oct 2018 at 9:23pm DownFromLandport wrote:
Although this does seem like a loaded question I’m happy to play along . Is your question the cost of just the pyrotechnics on the night as in everything that’s ordered and fired by each society ? Or anything to do with them as well ? As most society’s now days are paying to train people In order to do there prossesions and displays as safely as possible . Then you have equipment such as mortar tubes which every society in lewes would have 100+ at a guess then firing systems and then all the way into quick match and silver tape and bell wire . Chuck the insurance health and safety equipment and security into that. The list goes on !!
And @guy who is always a huge fan of bonfire! in terms of policing last year in London alone it cost 7m to police the football games that happened in the Capital and the clubs only had to put up 5% of that bill the rest went to the tax payer . It’s one night a year We know you don’t like it but in the great scheme of things mate It’s not that bad
On 23 Oct 2018 at 10:43pm Local in the Know wrote:
£50k per society on fireworks?? Nowhere near that. Ridiculous guess.
On 24 Oct 2018 at 4:38am Tarquin defont wrote:
I can't beleive i moved from london down to all this bonfire nonsense and bloody noise, i will certainly not be contributing and will do everything i can to get it stopped!
On 24 Oct 2018 at 8:39am Pedant wrote:
I can't believe you're a Londoner yet spell like a Lewesian.
On 24 Oct 2018 at 3:33pm Rev. Ben D'or de Font wrote:
Weren't you my Altar boy, Tarks ?
On 24 Oct 2018 at 4:26pm Astrid wrote:
@Tarquin defonts.....sod off back to London then!
On 24 Oct 2018 at 5:03pm Experienced wrote:
Insurance comes second only to fireworks
On 24 Oct 2018 at 6:29pm My guess wrote:
@ local in the know , that’s my guess for each societies costs not fireworks , try reading the full thread dear boy , try and keep up
On 25 Oct 2018 at 1:53pm Fired Up wrote:
That Challenger is probably a snidey journalist sharpening his pencil, ready to write yet another knocking story about Bonfire. Sod off!
On 25 Oct 2018 at 4:01pm Confused wrote:
6 million euros per person
On 25 Oct 2018 at 5:41pm Tarquin de font wrote:
Rev ben, you used to touch me and make me call you daddy!
On 25 Oct 2018 at 6:23pm Challenger wrote:
What an intriguing thread! Clearly a number of those who have responded know the answer to my simple question - how much do the Societies spend each year on fireworks? - but tie themselves in casuistical knots justifying why they should NOT provide it! I have no particular 'use' for the information (though perhaps others might have). But why such secretiveness? They invite the conclusion that to answer would be embarrassing to them. Is that because the figure is of itself so huge, or because it must surely end up with some pretty dubious (Chinese?) explosives manufacturers?
I only asked.
On 25 Oct 2018 at 6:30pm Big Daddy wrote:
I thought so , Tarqs. How are you, old chap ?
On 25 Oct 2018 at 10:12pm Downfromlandport wrote:
You are right I do know how much the society I’m in spends but I have no idea what any other society spends as weirdly enough Iv never seen other society’s in lewes’ firework displays as I’m watching ours. There’s nothing secretive or embarrassing about it I’d suggest if you have such an interest why not join a society and become involved and find out for yourself .
As for the dubious Chinese explosives comment where did you think fireworks are manufactured . I’m happy to explain why there not dubious but I won’t bother if your not interested in understanding about it and only here to throw comments around about things you clearly have no understanding off and think must be Dodgey because of that .
As I said the first time round this defiantly does seem like a loaded question and you seem to be digging for answers for more than just your curiosity
On 26 Oct 2018 at 12:51pm Slarty wrote:
Most, if not all, the Lewes societies are limited companies. In that respect they are "competitors" against each other. Why would competitors publish financial information to the public and each other? Full accounts are normally made available for members to inspect, if they want to get bored.
Gone are they days of getting hold of dubious Chinese (or Spanish) fireworks - more the pity.
Challenger, please enlighten us, what is your guess?