PRESS RELEASE - Concerns
grow over Caribbean Carnival of Manchester announcement that the carnival will
not be hosted in Alexander Park again this year.
Manchester’s
African Caribbean Community are up in arms after it was announced the annual
Moss Side carnival will be moved to Platt fields Park, Fallowfield for the 2nd
year running and reduced in scale through lack of funding despite promises by
the committee that the move would only be for one year while Alexandra Park was
refurbished. Moves are now afoot to oust committee members believed to be
responsible for failing to secure Alexandra Park and funding from the arts
council.
The AGM to be
held on Tuesday 14th January at 6.30 at the Phil Martin Centre promises
to be a very lively affair with the community seeking answers to why carnival, the
heartbeat of the Caribbean community, has been transplanted elsewhere. It is feared this could be a drain on the
spirit and the economic life blood of an already disadvantaged area pushing
even more economic activity towards the more affluent Wilmslow Road. The
delights and spectacle of Caribbean carnival has its roots firmly fixed in
Manchester’s African Caribbean Community and has been taking place in Alexandra
Park for over 40 years.
The community
are voicing concerns that they are not at all pleased with the whole affair of
how the issue of the park has been handled and communicated. Many locals were
not aware of the move and missed the carnival. There have been calls that a new
management team is needed who can give assurances that the carnival will return
to Alexander Park as soon as the refurbishment is complete as confidence has
been lost in the current Chair.
Akeim
Mundell, recently made young ambassador, who has put his name forward to become
a member of the Carnival committee, said ‘last year we were given assurances that the
change of venue would only be for one year but it seems that is not the case. It
is important that the carnival returns to Alex Park as the carnival is an asset
which goes towards a sense of ownership for the community and it is definitely
a time where we all come together to celebrate’.
Colette Williams,
community activist, says that concerns over the carnival are not just
restricted to the issue of location. The carnival was tremendously scaled down
last year. This is a clear indication that something is not quite right about
how the carnival is being run and we need a new management team to rectify this
and get on a course to ensure that Manchester returns to hosting carnivals on
the scale which took place when Manchester hosted the Commonwealth Games.
Jeff McDonald
who is putting himself forward as the new chair said, ‘Carnival has always been
very important to the community as it allows for the retaining of culture and
allows for the link to remain between the generations. Furthermore, it is imperative
that we pass onto our future generations’ skills and a legacy. Carnival is the
ideal mechanism to realise the potential of young people and they should be
given every opportunity to develop their initiatives and involvement. This can
only be achieved if the committee have a clear plan and implement such aspects as
skills development, promotions, trading and job creation’.
Jeff concludes by saying Manchester is a vibrant city, some would say
the UKs second city, and our carnival should reflect that status.
Colette Williams colettewilliams2012@gmail.com 07984 359 894
Jeff McDonald macmediaavg@aim.com 07708 072 000
