Real ale festival bosses apologises amid political barrel 'oversight'
The Real Ale and Cider Festival organised by the charity took place in Weston between 25-27 July.Charity president Paul Middleton said taking sponsorship from the political parties was "very naïve" and promised it would not happen again."The Weston-super-Mare Lions would like to apologise unreservedly for any offence taken with the barrel (not event) sponsorship from the Reform, Liberal Democrats and Conservative parties," he said."It was never our intention to align with or promote any political agenda. "The sponsorship was accepted without fully considering the broader implications. we now recognise that maintaining political impartiality is crucial."We take full responsibility for this oversight and the impact it may have had."The charity has since refunded all money taken from the political sponsorships "Thank you to those who voiced their concerns, your feedback is important, and we remain committed to learning from this and doing better," Mr Middleton added.
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