DESPITE bad weather the Winter Wonderland event at Castle Park raised £2,000 for the Saints Sled Dog Rescue charity.
The voluntary run, non-profit charity aims to help as many unwanted and stray Siberian Huskies and Alaskan Malamutes as possible through the process of fostering and rehoming, or simply supports their owners with help and advice.
While there were some issues concerning the artificial skating rink, which didn’t match expectations event organiser Kelly Lee said she was “over whelmed” with many positive aspects.
Kelly said: “I’d like to thank everybody that braved the weather and visited our first Winter Wonderland event held in Castle Park. It’s has been an incredibly over whelming weekend in regards to so many aspects.
“From the moment we were granted use of the park to host this event around 10 weeks ago we knew there would be hurdles given the lead time but I have put my heart and soul into organising this event and I have truly enjoyed every minute. Cheshire West & Chester council, their parks development officer Andy James and Councillor Lynne Riley and senior localities manager Pam Bradley have gone above and beyond to ensure I was supported on this build up and I can’t thank you all enough.
“It’s been so lovely to see all of the amazing photos, videos and reviews sent to our Facebook page. As with every event there are lessons to be learnt and room for improvement and I completely empathise with the handful of visitors that have suggested they were expecting more from Winter Wonderland. Unfortunately we were drastically let down with our synthetic ice skating rink and this is not what we were expecting but that aside it was great to see so many people enjoying it. Those that have raised concerns have been issued with 100% refunds.
“Unfortunately the weather wasn’t on our side on Friday evening and all day Saturday, this combined with over 5000 visitors arriving on Sunday created a lot of mud within the park, we’re working really hard with Cheshire West & Chester council to get the ground back to its original condition as quickly as possible.
“A large proportion of our visitors came from outside of Frodsham with the prominent towns being Winsford, Chester and Saint Helens. We have been able to gather this information from the location of pre purchased skating tickets. We received a lot of lovely comments about how beautiful it was driving though Frodsham
“Due to strong winds and heavy rain on Saturday a number of artisan craft traders had to pack up and leave due to risk of damages and financial loss. We’re extremely grateful to those that came back on Sunday morning to brave the cold and wow what a day it was.
“We’ve had some lovely feedback from all of our catering traders that came along over the weekend and again, we’d like to thank them for sticking with us and supporting the event.
“The highlight for us this weekend was receiving the news that Saints Sled Dog Rescue we’re able to raise over £2000 from the event with which is just amazing.
“Huge thanks to Chris and Matt and the rest of the team at Frodsham Round Table for hosting our Grotto and you’re overall support for myself and the event. This is greatly appreciated.
“This support is what got us through the weekend and I also owe thanks to JW electrical solutions for your dedication to ensuring this event ran smoothly and going out of your way to help.
“I look forward to taking all of your feedback on board and putting on Winter Wonderland for you again next year.”
Despite the quote above saying anyone who raised concerns over the ice skating received a full refund, I’ve never received my refund. I appreciate there were unexpected issues as a result of the weather but when I am promised a refund for a service I didn’t receive, I take it in good faith that refund will be forthcoming and not later told that there are no funds left as they have all been used to pay suppliers. I’m pretty disappointed and sadly not inclined to support the event again next year.