Cancelling carnival a horrific decision - chair

Cancelling Nuneaton Carnival has been a "horrific decision", but a lack of volunteers to help run it means it cannot be put on again, the retiring chairwoman says.

Charlotte Aspley said this year's event was "a lot of work" and a "particularly difficult year" given the small committee they had.

She said she had stood down in September due to family commitments and also running her own business and announced on Monday it was ending.

The majority of this year's £10,000 funding had been raised, but more people were needed to organise it, so the "opportunity was there if someone wanted to take it", she added.

In a post on Facebook, the Nuneaton Carnival groups said: "It is with great sadness that we today announce the end of Nuneaton Carnival. We are sure that you will all be understanding that this was a very difficult decision.

"Thank you to everyone who has ever taken part, supported and attended Nuneaton Carnival. Without every single one of you none of the history of Carnival would have been possible."

Remaining funds will still be donated to this year’s nominated charity and an update on the final figure will be made public once everything is complete, it stated.

'Means the world to me'

Ms Aspley said she had taken some time out after organising this year's event and ultimately decided to stand down.

"It came to be very clear that to go forward another year was quite a stretch so I made the difficult decision back in September to step down," she said.

No-one or any group had yet come forward to take on the event, which started in 1936, despite some interested parties.

"A lot of people I don't think realised it's a voluntary role - we had a lot of people inquiring as to what the salary was.

"Sadly it doesn't come with a salary, just hard work I'm afraid."

But she said as it currently stood, there was nobody confirmed to take it on.

"Having had nobody really step forward in the last two months I'm pushed into a little bit of a corner really," she said, adding that it was "a horrific decision".

"Carnival means the world to me, so it was a very difficult decision," she said.

"I was a Carnival Queen many years ago. back in the 90s, and and I've had the joy of being on the committee for several years and taking the role of chair was difficult in the first place."

She said she understood that people would be upset but hoped someone or a group would step forward and take it on.