Brockham Bonfire
Visit the official Brockham Bonfire website!
www.brockhambonfire.com
This year's Bonfire is taking place on
Saturday 3rd November 2012 - details on the official website
(above)
Click below to see time lapse photos for a
previous year's event:
The entire day - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A4M2i3CvHc
The evening - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2H8ZH4o_bY
Sunday clean up - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENUFBImdo2U
_______________________________________________
Message from:
Tony Hines, Chairman, Brockham Bonfire
Ltd
We need your help !
Your Village, Your Bonfire, Your Opportunity to
become involved.
You may be new to Brockham, you may have made Brockham your home
some time ago, you may be involved in the bonfire in some way
already but we want you to become more involved in this wonderful
community event.
What is it?
Bonfire Night in Brockham is the culmination of six weeks
bonfire building, planning and preparation for one of the largest
Guy Fawkes Night celebrations in the country. We create a safe
event for the thousands of people who attend with car parking,
catering, the pig roast, the procession, bonfire and fireworks all
helping to make it a unique event.
Why do we do it?
The bonfire provides a very important focus for village life but
it also raises significant funds for local organisations and good
causes. Around £20,000 is given away each year - not bad for an
event where we don't charge for admission.
Who is involved?
Time to explain some misconceptions. Legally we operate as
Brockham Bonfire Ltd. We have to operate as a business to limit the
liability of individuals, we have a board of directors who bring a
range of skills to the event but importantly the directors are able
to 'share' the legal responsibility for public safety on Bonfire
Night and during the build up to the celebrations. Historically, we
have been known as the Bonfire Committee, yes, we have elected
Officers but the word Committee is misleading, at our meeting just
before Bonfire Night our 'Committee' is 100 strong. We have also
referred to ourselves as the 'Bonfire Boys and Girls', a fantastic
description of our younger volunteers! We are a bunch of people who
organise the event and anyone is welcome, adults and mid to late
teenagers in particular.
So what can you do?
Anything, is the simple answer. You may not have the time or
energy to help on every Saturday or Sunday before the bonfire, but
any contribution beforehand and on the day will be welcomed and we
have a wide range of tasks that have to be completed.
A particular need for Stewards
To fulfil the requirements of our Public Liability Insurance it
is now a requirement to have many stewards available on Bonfire
Night. I am sure you will have seen the teams of Stewards on the
Village Green and around the Village. They play a vital role on the
evening and their experience and dedication is critical to our
success. We are constantly on the look out for more Stewards.
We believe that there are a lot of Brockham residents on the
Green during the evening who would be keen to help. We give a
briefing to all Stewards on the issues of safety, emergency exits,
control points and particular hazards and we would provide
fluorescent tabards so they could be easily identified in the
crowd. You would work as part of a Stewarding Team and be invited
to our annual 'table-top' exercise with all the emergency
services..
What next?
If you feel that you can make a contribution to the bonfire as a
Steward, or in other any other role then we need to hear from
you.
Weekly meetings are held every Wednesday at 8.30pm in
the Village Hall and everybody is welcome. Alternatively, the first
visible sign of Bonfire Night is when we put up the centre pole.
Come to the Village Green, whatever the weather, join us for a
coffee and meet the team.
Brockham Bonfire is something that everyone living in the
village should be proud of and should have some involvement in. The
Bonfire also needs new people to get involved to ensure that it
continues for future generations. This is your opportunity to get
more involved.
I'm also very happy to talk to you on the phone or you can
e-mail me supporters@brockhambonfire.com
Tony Hines
Chairman, Brockham Bonfire Ltd
The bonfire home page also has links to how you can help, how to
prepare for and enjoy the evening, along with articles on What the bonfire means, and historical
articles from 1903
Better still, why not visit the great new Brockham
Bonfire dedicated web site ....