Town Centre Partnership to fold after 19 years

The charity was founded in 2000, with aim of promoting and improving St Peter Port.

Since then the organisation has set up the summer Town Carnival and Sunday afternoon free concerts at Candie Gardens.

Jack Honeybill has been a driving force for the organisation and has headed it up since 2002.

However, health problems means he now needs to step down and there has not been anyone suitable to take his place.

‘I’m now nearly 76 and things can’t go on forever,’ he said.

‘We tried to find someone who was interested in taking it on, but it is very difficult.

‘One of the main challenges is the amount of money we need to raise each year.’

Mr Honeybill said he was really proud of everything the group has done.

‘One of the things we have achieved is encouraging young people to come forward and perform and they have now blossomed,’ he said.

‘It’s a great shame that this will be the last carnival, but it has given a lot of pleasure to everybody and it has encouraged so many young performers.

‘The carnival is too difficult for anyone to take on. This year will be the last one.

‘It is very sad when you love doing something and you get your hands dirty and then you find you cannot continue.’

However, that does not mean it has been scaled back for the final year. A range of entertainers, including Punch and Judy, opera singers Il Destino and the clowns will be back.

Among the other projects the partnership has organised are the creation of petanque courts opposite the Royal Gardens development, the installation of stone benches around the harbour, purchasing Commonwealth flags, organising the extension of Town parking around Christmas and finding sponsorship for the bunting which is put up around St Peter Port over the summer.

The Sunday afternoon concerts in Candie Gardens begin tomorrow and will run every week until the end of September.

There are no performances at Market Square this year due to problems with infrastructure. Instead there will be live music outside Pier 17, when there are cruise ships visiting.

Town Centre Partnership has also organised the Normandie Markets, where French traders travel to Guernsey several times a year to sell wares on North Beach. Mr Honeybill said the market’s future was currently unclear, but he is hopeful it might continue.

‘At the end of September it will all end with Candie and that will be it,’ Mr Honeybill said.

‘Then we will see what rises from the ashes.’

BLOB

The Town Carnival will take place in locations around St Peter Port between 13 and 27 July.

The Candie Gardens live music will take place every Sunday from this weekend, between 3pm and 4pm. The first act to perform will be the Glenn Miller Sound. The music has been funded through sponsorship from The Guernsey Arts Commission and an Association of Guernsey Charities lottery grant.