ORGANISERS of the Helensburgh Hogmanay ceilidh are appealing to the community for funding help after the annual bash became the latest local event to bite the dust due to Covid-19.
The coronavirus pandemic has already curtailed the town’s bonfire and fireworks display in 2020, while the popular Winter Festival has been forced to go digital with safety concerns over large crowds.
And the Helensburgh and District Access Trust, which runs the end-of-year celebration at the Victoria Halls, has now pulled the plug on staging the gathering in two months’ time.
The ceilidh is the main source of income for the trust every year, despite the £617 brought in from the 26th edition of the event last December being described as “disappointing”.
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Trust secretary Anne Urquhart said the loss of the fund-raiser will leave a huge gap in the organisation’s budget, which is spent on maintaining paths and walking trails in the area.
She said: “In recent years it has been our main source of funds for path repairs and improvements, but this year we just can’t see how it’s going to be possible to run the event.
“With footfall and heavy rainfall up so much, wear and tear on the paths has increased and while our volunteers can do some of the lighter maintenance tasks, for bigger jobs we need funds to pay for materials, plant hire and contractors.
“So, without the ceilidh this year, we are appealing to the community for help. Be you a walker, dog walker, jogger, mountain biker, happy wanderer or sauntering stroller, we need your support.”
Mrs Urquhart said the cancellation of the ceilidh is the downside to the pandemic, which has brought some benefits to the area.
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Last year the trust used a Paths for All grant to install two people counters on its footpath network on the Three Lochs Way: one on the edge of town near the Hill House, and another near Glen Douglas.
The results – showing a dramatic rise in usage of the trails – have pleasantly surprised trust members.
“The Glen Douglas location has been returning an average of around 13 passes per day giving an annual usage approaching 5,000”, added Mrs Urquhart, “well above what was expected.
“We knew the Hill House trail was busy, but little did we realise just how popular it is; the passage rate there, projected for the full year, gives a truly remarkable figure close to 100,000!
“So now we know just how important these trails are as a recreational and as a health asset both to the town and to the wider region, now doubly so in these strange Covid times.
“While we don’t have any accurate pre-Covid figures, there can be little doubt the pandemic has led to a substantial increase in usage of the trails and this is certainly the position elsewhere in the country.”
You can make an online donation to the trust on the Three Lochs Way website at threelochsway.co.uk.
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