Spalding Town Forum chairman issues letter of apology and explains why they were forced to cancel Ayscoughfreeze

The organisers of a festive event have issued a letter to outline the reasons why they were forced to cancel it.

Spalding Town Forum had spent several months planning an afternoon of Christmas activities, AyscoFreeze, at the town’s Ayscoughfee Hall on Saturday.

However, they were forced to cancel on Saturday afternoon due to the weather - which did spark some social media backlash from people who were disappointed with the last minute cancellation.

Town forum chairman Rob Gibson has written to apologise but also explain why they had to cancel.

He said: “After the online hate stirred up over the weekend by a political wannabe I thought I best submit a letter of apology after having to cancel the event planned for Ayscoughfee on Saturday afternoon.

“After several months of planning and organising the last thing we wanted to do was cancel the event, we are aware of the pressure this puts on stall holders, musicians, the cafe and our volunteers.

“Those of us that had put effort in to organise the event did so to provide something for the residents of South Holland as we feel you often miss out by not having a town council, if this isn't wanted we will listen and cancel any future ideas so as not to upset people.

“On the day, we were advised at 13:45 that we could not use gazebos by the independent safety officer for the event, at the time the wind was gusting too high and a decision had to be made.

“Unfortunately the majority of the entertainment booked needed shelter of some variety so a decision to cancel had to be made, we attempted to get the word out on all social media platforms at this point.

“We did make the mistake of not having some visibility at the gates for the whole duration of the event, which would have ensured there was consistent communication to everyone who made the effort to attend and had not seen that the event had been cancelled.

“I am very sorry for any inconvenience and upset this may have caused anyone and I apologise profusely, we will learn from these mistakes going forward.

“Can we take this opportunity to wish you a merry Christmas from all on the Spalding Town Forum and hope you have a lovely new year.”