Letter: Putting on a fabulous show

I wish to thank everyone who came along to Mirfield Show 2014 making it one of the most varied and best shows ever. I wish to thank all the exhibitors in all the classes and competitions that maintain the roots of the show – and all the sponsors, advertisers, stall holders, local organisations, businesses, volunteers and committee members past and present who have helped make the show the success it is. I also would very much like to thank all the team at the Reporter Series for their continued support and excellent coverage before and after the show – both in print and online. As a not-for-profit event, any and all coverage is always very much appreciated.

MAIN RING: An estimated 8,000 people turned up for the Mirfield Show.

Planning has already started for 2015 and hopefully it will be even bigger and better whilst maintain the community and child-friendly foundations that the original come-back committee of 1995 laid down – and what the team needs now are your ideas and feedback on how to make this happen. Each show is a year in the planning – often handwork, sometimes stressful – but when I see so many happy faces there on the day, I know that all the hard work that everyone has put in to make Mirfield Show happen, is worth it.

And on a personal note – after nine years I am stepping down from the show team.

I have enjoyed everyone of the shows and it has been a pleasure to see it evolve so much in that time, yet keeping many of the core family elements that were introduced back by the re-founders back in 1995. I would like to congratulate the chairwoman Karen who has been instrumental in this – and the team that has grown from a handful to almost 40 volunteers. Not many people realise that it is a not-for-profit event that costs almost £35,000 to organise, and work on it takes all year – but without this dedicated team, one of the key events in the local calendar would disappear. It is a great team with a wide variety of ages and backgrounds and would encourage anyone to join as you personally get so much out of it. I am looking forward to experiencing the 2015 show as a visitor, which I am sure will continue to become even more spectacular.

Thank you.

Richard Hartley

Former Mirfield Show Committee Member