Shrewsbury Krazy Races organisers wanted council cash to help run event, boss says
A council boss said the Krazy Races event won't be held next year because organisers wanted the authority to help fund it.
Sarah Belcher Events, the team behind the soapbox derby, recently said it had pulled the plug on the Shrewsbury event next year due to "lack of support" from stakeholders.
But Shrewsbury Town Council's Mike Cox said he had never given council money to event organisers and doesn't plan to in the future as it would "set a precedent" for other events.
Mr Cox, the authority's outdoor recreation and asset manager, told a council meeting: "In the paper recently it was mentioned that Krazy Races is not returning to Shrewsbury due to a lack of support.
"The organisers had asked if Shrewsbury Town Council could contribute to the running of the event. It's not something I've done for any of the events and is not something I intend to do in the future.
"If we start putting funding into this event it may set a precedent for other events. It is a charity event that is put on to raise money for charity. I don't think we should be paying money to the individual to then give out to local charities."
Krazy Races was launched in Shrewsbury in 2019 and returned this year in May following a break due to the Covid pandemic and lockdown rules.
Sarah Belcher Events have taken the event to other towns and had success, but announced last month that it will not be back in Shrewsbury "for the foreseeable".
A spokesman for the event said: “We love Shrewsbury and we have loved being able to put our free to attend events on in the town.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank our amazing sponsors, teams and spectators who have supported our event.
“We are gutted that we won’t be returning to Shrewsbury.
“However we hope that in the future we will be able to work with the local authority to give the people of Shrewsbury a great ‘free-to-attend’ event to remember, while raising several more thousands for local causes.”
The first Krazy Races event was in the Quarry in 2019, under the name ‘Shrewsbury Wacky Races’ raising over £20,000 for local charities.
It went on to win a ‘best new event in the UK’ award.
The national success of the Shropshire event encouraged town and city councils as well as business improvement districts from all over the country to invite Krazy Races to their area for their own versions of the event.
Organisers said nearly 50,000 people attended Krazy Races events in Shrewsbury, Northwich and Wolverhampton this year.
