Organisers of Padgate Walking Day address cancellation of event

For more than 100 years, schools have joined hands with churches in Padgate and Woolston to proudly walk the streets of the community.

The melody of brass bands can be heard as the event makes its way through the area and hundreds line the streets to watch the age-old tradition.

However, this year the organisers, Churches Together, have made the difficult decision to cancel the Walking Day citing this a due to a ‘lack of volunteers’ and ‘safeguarding concerns’.

The organisation has released a statement in light of the controversy around the decision, made only weeks before the event was set to take place on June 22.

Addressing the reason for the decision, Reverand David Heywood said: “At the end of April, we became aware of several problems concerning this year's Walking Day.

“Consequently, an emergency meeting was convened on 22 May 2024 to discuss these matters.

“Representatives from all the churches and schools that take part in Walking Day, together with some local councillors, were invited to attend.”

Mr Heywood went on to detail some of the concerns raised at the meeting including that ‘despite appeals for help, too much is left to too few’, referring to planning and organisation of the event.

He said: “Although we have managed until now, this year the problem has become acute, especially when trying to meet the threshold for safety for a public event.”

Another issue that was raised was the number of volunteer marshals that were set to help out on the day.

“We need far more marshals, at least 40 this year, but every year when we appeal through our churches and schools, few come forward and they are often church members in their seventies and older.

“This means we are looking for people to help on the day to make up numbers. This is no longer practical or safe. Marshals need to be named, briefed, and organised in good time before the event.”

The Reverend also noted that on the Walking Day the marshals are increasingly met with ‘abusive behaviour’ and hold no authority.

Safeguarding was also highlighted as one of the reasons for the cancellation of the event, after primary school representatives who attended the meeting raised ‘deeply concerning’ issues about the safety of the school children on the Walking Day.

Emphasising this in further detail, Mr Heywood said: “These include the number of people that gather outside St Oswald's and 'fall' into the procession, the behaviour of some when asked to remain on the pavement, car owners challenging volunteer marshals and removing cones at road closures, vehicles putting children at risk at Padgate Community Centre and other assembly points, 'abusive' behaviour from patrons of a local pub, and so on.

“With four weeks to go - two of which are half-term - we simply cannot sort these issues out with confidence.

Lastly the issue of financing the event which the organisation stated was left for the most part down to the churches, is said to be increasing year-on-year and the churches can ‘no longer fund the rising cost alone’.

Summarising the decision, The Reverand said: “The meeting lasted two and a half hours as we explored and tried to find a practical resolution to each problem. However with four weeks to go, we were unable to reach a consensus that we could stage Walking Day safely this year.

“Therefore, it was decided reluctantly, but in the best interests of the children of our schools, as well as volunteer marshals, that we should not go ahead with Walking Day this year.”

A decision has also been made to start up a management team in September, to resolve the issues discussed to ensure that the event would go ahead smoothly again next year in 2025.