Increasing costs and lack of fundraising force Wodonga Show Society to cancel 2023 event

Wodonga Show Society informed the community of the decision to not run the family event, slated for March 18, on Facebook this week, but president Andrew Rich has vowed it won't be the end.

"We have a lot of financial responsibilities with the showgrounds with regards to our user groups and our public liability insurances," he told The Border Mail.

"We usually fundraise by having an eight-bay caravan park at the showgrounds, but it's been in recession because of COVID.

"The people who volunteer to look after the caravan park, most of them are mature age people who were in a vulnerable status for COVID, so we didn't open it with until we felt really comfortable that we will be safe.

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"We opened it again at the start of December and it hasn't really generated any income, because it's all word of mouth getting it running.

"We decided we don't have enough funds to run our events and we need to knuckle down and fundraise to do what we have to."

Mr Rich said the cost of wildlife entertainer Chris Humfrey, who regularly performs at the show, had increased by $2500, while St John Ambulance's first aid service had also jumped to $2500.

"It has already hit $10,000 and we hadn't even opened the gate," he said.

"We don't want to have an event and not have anything there for anyone.

"We need to have money in the bank to make sure that we are viable, because if we were to run a show, we wouldn't be fiscally responsible."

Mr Rich said the show society had a responsibility to protect the various community groups, including Albury Wodonga Woodcrafters, Wodonga and District Pony Club and the Murray Railway Modellers that call the showgrounds home.

"These groups need our venue, our sheds and the resources for their existence. If we were to have no money and we couldn't pay any of our outgoings, they would be in a bad way," he said.

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