Village Gymkhana is saved thanks to Gazette appeal (From Gazette Series)

Tytherington's annual horse and dog show is saved thanks to Gazette appeal

9:30am Friday 3rd February 2012 in Thornbury news By Marion Sauvebois

TYTHERINGTON’S famous Gymkhana will get a 44th run this summer - thanks to the Gazette.

Following an article calling on volunteers to join forces with the horse show’s organising committee and save the threatened event, a total of 25 locals offered their help to the team, including one who agreed to take on the role of chairman.

Gymkhana committee secretary Sian Mann said that since the meeting which brought forth a score of villagers willing to get the show off the ground, many more residents had emailed her about lending a hand.

"Seeing the appeal on the front page of the Gazette did motivate people to come," she said.

"The Gazette did make the difference. A lot of people were talking about the article. We were very pleased to be able to run the horse show again."

The village is now poised to put on one of it best and most original performances to date as the freshly-appointed Gymkhana team announced its intention to give the show, to be held in August, a modern twist.

Organisers will have their first brainstorming session next week and are bursting with ideas for an exciting new format.

Mrs Mann added: "Hopefully it will have enough of the old elements to keep people happy but also introduce new things to attract new people to the show.

"We would normally have started planning in January and have certain tasks completed already. So we have some catching up to do. But it's looking promising."

And the festivities are expected to attract thousands of visitors again this year.

Tytherington’s popular dog show, which used to take place alongside the Gymkhana but had to be cancelled three years ago, will even be resurrected this summer, thanks to the appeal.

"It will be good to have it back," Mrs Mann said. "Somebody came forward to help run the dog show.

"We had not been able to run it because there was no one to do it and there was always a problem of space.

"But people always rung up every year to ask if it was happening this year."

The day-long show has raised more than £30,000 for various charities such as Hammer Out and the Jessie May Trust and supported various groups within the village over the last four decades.

The Gymkhana is now one of the last standing community summer events in the region.

Thornbury and Pilning Carnivals’ organising committees recently announced they were unable to go on after failed campaigns to secure locals’ support.