The newly appointed MHK responsible for the TT has confirmed that the Royal British Legion can collect donations around the TT Grandstand.
It comes after a social media post claimed the organsiation had been told it was not allowed to carry out collections this year.
Responding to the claims, Sarah Maltby MHK said she knew nothing about the restriction and would look in to the matter.
This afternoon Mrs Maltby issued a statement.
‘Recognising that the Royal British Legion has been visible for many years around the paddock, we have communicated that we have no objections to them collecting from around the public areas at the Grandstand over the event, accepting we cannot grant a permanent pitch.
Sarah Maltby MHK (DFE Member for the TT)
The Department for Enterprise (DFE) who run the TT, said that commercial pitches at the TT Grandstand range from £3,000-£11,000 for commercial organisation, dependent on the type of business and aims to ensure a quality and diverse offering of food, drink and retail for visitors.
Policy changed in 2010
The DFE said ‘Due to the number of charities which contact the Department each year requesting to obtain a trade pitch during TT, in the interest of fairness the Department implemented a policy in 2010 to no longer offer trade spaces to any charity. The only exceptions to this policy are charities which are intrinsically linked to the TT Races (such as the Joey Dunlop Foundation), which are required to make an application through the normal channels and pay a reasonable fee for the pitch. Charities with a permanent presence at the TT Grandstand are not charged separately during the event.
‘The Department recognises that many local charities strive to utilise the increased number of visitors to the Island over TT to share information about their important work, and despite not being able to have a presence at the TT Grandstand, encourages them to take advantage of the many opportunities to engage fans elsewhere around the Island. The Department understands that each year visiting fans of the TT Races are renowned for being generous to local charities by donations made at charity events or other collections made on Island during the TT Races.’
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