Finance call deserves
BAILIFF Geoffrey Rowland's SOS – Save Our Shows – was a timely reminder that without public support cherished island institutions are at risk.
BAILIFF Geoffrey Rowland's SOS – Save Our Shows – was a timely reminder that without public support cherished island institutions are at risk.
For the thousands of islanders and visitors who attended yesterday's excellent Battle of Flowers there was little sign of that risk.
The show was its sparkling self and very much business as usual: the highlight of Guernsey's summer calendar was as good as ever. And even this August's dismal weather behaved.
Yet behind the scenes, the process of putting on the shows generally, and the Battle in particular, gets harder by the year. As people's tastes and expectations rise, so the challenge of putting on an appealing spectacle increases.
So, too, does the cost. This year's pageant meant spending £100,000 and that liability falls solely on the Northern Agricultural and Horticultural Society – a huge sum for a lay group with limited reserves and an overwhelming dependency on gate receipts to break even.
It is the reason why the Wednesday show and Thursday Battle could not go ahead as they do without generous sponsorship and the voluntary help of hundreds of islanders.
In past years, manpower was less of a problem. Horticulture was the dominant industry and as well as supporting the shows financially, growers were happy to release labour to help out at the show.
Now the pendulum has swung, it is less easy for businesses to release office workers than it was when people's jobs were under glass.
Yet in urging the financial services sector, which is already hugely generous in other areas, to consider backing the more traditional areas of local life, the Bailiff was making a valid point.
In the past, Guernsey's dominant industry with the cash and labour was keen to become involved in grassroots, community events aimed at ordinary folk.
Greater finance involvement would have a double benefit. It would help reduce the misguided view that the sector is an elite and the skills and marketing professionalism of the industry would be of major help to the shows.
The Bailiff's call is one that should be heeded.
