A couple of weeks ago I publicised a charity event Castle Rocks which I’m taking part in (with Harmonica Lewinsky). The event on March 1st is in aid of Bobath, a charity which helped my friend’s wee boy, Fraser Williamson who died in November, and was originally scheduled to take place at the Strathclyde Homes Stadium in Dumbarton.
Unfortunately months after accepting the booking and three weeks after the tickets went on sale, Dumbarton F.C. last week told Allan Sneddon the organiser that they couldn’t stage the event after all and returned his booking fee. Safety and cost grounds were cited which left Allan puzzled as he had drawn up a proposal which included health and safety (he is qualified in this field) and stewarding which was to have been done by his police colleagues. As for costs the event was for charity but he had paid a booking fee and was prepared to listen to any other reasonable requests to cover costs. However the club were not for turning. Fortunately the local Masonic Lodge has offered to stage the gig with exactly the same proposal and they have waived the booking fee because it is a charitible event. No one organising the event is a member of the Masons but Allan reports that they were very welcoming and dealing with them was a pleasure. Several of those involved, including myself have been closely involved with Dumbarton F.C. for many years. If only they could have been so accomodating.
One wag was heard asking yesterday why Allan had involved himself with a reactionary, conservative organisation obsessed with secrecy and arcane procedures. But he said he’d been reassured that the event had been moved to the lodge instead!
Filed under: Dumbarton, dumbarton fc | Tagged: dumbarton fc, masons
Terrible story this one in my view. The Club have missed out on an opportunity to showcase our facilities and give a platform for future events.
I’m glad, for the charity involved that the Masonic have stepped in.
Sincerely hope that it is a success.
It was an opportunity for many local people who may not have seen the stadium or its facillities before to check them out. The club had concerns and that’s fair enough but surely they could have negotiated about these? Particularly with the time frame.
The Masonic people accepted the same proposal without equivacation which shows the club in a poor light.
We keep hearing the phrase community club and things have improved in that respect. This however is a set back on the journey.
Dumbarton football club have a long way to go. Having a supporters director has certainly helped and I know that our supporters director has rescued a number of situations.
Hopefully the club can learn from this and also learn from the consequences of bad PR.
Agree with you Rab on the community angle. It’s a real shame that the Club did not see the Castle Rocks concert as an opportunity rather than a threat.
We have a fantastic facility at DFC and in my view it is underused outside matchdays and the odd wedding (or two).
The Supporters Trust, responsible for the commercial aspect of matchday stuff, is looking to bring more business to the Club.
Having Castle Rocks on the CV would have been very positive indeed.
Alan
You may have seen the comments by the DFC chairman in the local press in which he was being a wee bit economical with the actualite. It wasn’t so much the decision (which was wrong IMHO) which was the problem, but the ham fisted way the whole thing was handled.