About the Show
The first Show Committe had Noreen Richards as Chairperson who became a key figure in the establishment and ongoing success of the Show for many years. The earliest founding committee consisted of Marion Rosbotham, Edith Ashcroft, Mary Wright, Thomas Dagnall, George Harrison, Albert Grethe, William Harding, Alice Edwards and Anne Lawson.
From this earliest meeting the Show first came went live in September 1981 thanks to sponsorship from the then Rainford Sports Council and the backing of three main exising organisations within the village - the Flower club, the Horticultural Society and the Women's Institute. Initially, entries to this first show were to be from these three broad classes but with the addition of a Children's class.
It was interesting to see that the target participation for this first Show was anticipated at around 60 participants, across all four classes. Exhibits were included that included wine, confectionary, preserved, floral art, vegetables, fruit and flowers. The Show Committee were honoured by The Earl of Derby kindly attending the first show to present trophies to the winning participants.
The first success, in 1981, provided firm foundations for everything that followed as the Show grew to encompass a wider ranfe of hobbies and skills, provided for by new exhibit classes, and attracting ever more participants. To date, we anticipate in excess of 600 entries for this annual event.
The Rainford Show costs over £2,000 to stage each year and being self-financing we have to hold fundraising events througout the year and seek sponsorship from individuals and companies for which we are extremely grateful.
There are countless people to thank for the Show's first 40 years; the organisers of the event, our sponsors, the Parish Council, and most importantly, everyone who has ever entered any of the multitude of competition classes.
Without these people, there would be no Show.