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Wednesday, M a rc h 21, 2012 Price 35p where soldvisit our website at w w w. t h i s i s s u s s e x . c o . u k
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M AY O R ’S BALL SPENT£1, ON FLOWERSFundraiser questions why cash was not given straight to charities
Goal gestureCRAWLEY Town star Sergio Torresdedicated his goal at the weekendto a special young fan, who isbattling leukaemia.
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Shanty townA HORSHAM councillor hasinfuriated Crawley politicians bycomparing part of our borough toa shanty town.
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Triplets joyLEIGHANNE Cox had a Mother’sDay to remember – as she spent itwith her newborn triplets, who were11 weeks premature.
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ing window dressing for a ball.”Town mayor Carol Eade said
she had “no idea how much theflowers cost”.
She added: “A budget is set forthe ball and the money wouldhave come out of that.”
The event has been affected bythe economic downturn.
In 2007, the ball raised £7,000,but by 2009 the total had droppedto £4,000.
The £2,500 raised this year willgo towards equipment for treating
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cancer patients at Crawley Hos-pital and for helping people withpoor eyesight.
Defending the outlay onflowers, the council spokesmansaid: “The Civic Ball is the grand-est mayoral event in the muni-cipal year and we decorate thevenue accordingly.
“The ball is an acknowledg-ment of thanks for volunteerswh i l e mayors from other townsattend, providing a great chanceto show off Crawley.”
ExclusiveDave Comeau
THE council splashed out morethan £1,000 of taxpayers’ moneyon flowers for the mayor’s annualfundraising ball.
Lavish floral arrangementswere put around The Hawth,where the Civic Ball was held.
The event allows much-neededmoney to be raised for two char-ities, but questions have beenasked as to why £1,060 was spenton flowers to decorate the theatreit was held in.
Huge sumThe huge sum bought orange
gerberas – a type of large daisy –and artificial plants, sprayed gold,silver and bronze to match thecolours of Olympic medals.
This year’s ball on January 21was raising money for 4Sight forthe Blind and Crawley HospitalLeague of Friends.
But it raised only £2,500.It seems likely that more than
this would have been spent on theball in total, given how much wasspent on flowers.
However, the council has nothad all the bills through yet towork out how much it all cost.
A spokesman said that theevent wasn’t just about raisingmoney, but also to thank charityvo l u n t e e r s.
Maria Hains, a fundraiser withthe Crawley Hospital League ofFriends, believes the £1,060 couldhave been much better spent.
She said: “It would be better forthe patients if the money was spenton equipment for the hospital,rather than flowers for the ball.
“The flowers money could havepaid for another fundraiser.”
Robert Oxley, from the TaxPay-ers’ Alliance, agreed, saying:“Spending £1,000 on floralarrangements, even for a charityevent, is tough to justify when acouncil has to save money.
“Surely this worthwhile eventcould have gone ahead withoutspending so much on the flowers.
Window dressing“This money could have sup-
ported good causes in a muchmore productive way than provid-
FUNDRAISER: Maria Hainsthinks the cash should have beenspent on another charity eventLAVISH: The scene of the Civic Ball and, inset, mayor Carol Eade, who says she had no idea of the costs
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