Platinum Jubilee: New charity group help rescue vandalised stage for Knaresborough garden party

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The celebrations for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in Knaresborough may have been a grand success - with the Knaresborough House Garden Party a highlight - but the latter event only went on after vandals struck.

Early on Saturday morning, before the celebrations began, the event was in danger following some overnight vandalism.

The stage used for the highlight acts of the party had been set up the previous evening on the lower part of Knaresborough House field.

It was assembled and bolted together, but when the team arrived on Saturday morning to begin setting up for the Garden Party, the stage was overturned, torn apart and spread across the bottom of the field.

James Pickard, a member of the new Knaresborough Revolution Charity Group, which supports the work of Knaresborough Rotary Club, said: “On first viewing, we were unsure if the stage could be salvaged but we were determined not to let the Jubilee event down."

Pictures were taken for insurance purposes and, after a safety overview, the charity set about reassembling the stage which, almost miraculously had only suffered damage to some of the railings and fastening bolts.

These were replaced by the quick thinking Knaresborough Revolution team to make the stage structurally sound and safe again.

The event went ahead without a hitch and thankfully, none of the crowd were the wiser about the drama of the morning.

New charity group Knaresborough Revolution have a strong passion for supporting youth in the area and other charity groups.

The vandals remain anonymous but, the charity said, if they were youth or young people, then Knaresborough Revolution have proven the reason for their existence and made a good first step to providing solutions.

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