Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Appeal for £2m to save Royal Highland Show

The Royal Highland Show costs £3-£4 million to host.
The Royal Highland Show costs £3-£4 million to host.

The depth of the financial crisis engulfing organisers of the Royal Highland Show has been laid bare in a desperate plea for farmers to donate money to save the annual event.

The appeal for £2 million to help support preparations for the 2021 show has gone directly to the 16,000 members of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS) in this month’s society magazine, which equates to asking for a donation of £125 per head.

The RHASS is sitting on £10 million of debt following the cancellation of this year’s show and other events which were scheduled to be held in its new £5m pavilion at Ingliston.

RHASS received Covid-19 funding from both the Scottish and UK governments, but no cash reserves are left, and while cost-cutting plans have been implemented and redundancies are likely for some of the 44 staff, society chief executive Alan Laidlaw insists these savings will not be enough to rescue the show. Launching the appeal to “save your show”, he said: “We will do everything we can but it’s an uphill struggle.

“The directors are committed to delivering the show in 2021 but (pandemic) restrictions will be in place, possibly in numbers or the format structure or safety measures.

“All of those would have an impact on costs and our ability to deliver. If we get support over the next few months it would be an amazing boost.”

Six or seven different scenarios are currently being considered for 2021, with the event usually costing between £3m and £4m to host, including hiring structures, 80 additional temporary staff and 1,200 contractors.

RHASS also has an eye on the 200th anniversary of the show in 2022, when the Golden Shears world shearing championships are due to be held, and is “intent on ensuring” it is in a strong financial position in order to mark the landmark event.

Mr Laidlaw urged everyone who cared about the show to “dig deep”.

nnicolson@thecourier.co.uk