VOLUNTEERS who spent months planning for their parish’s Battle of Flowers entry were left “devastated” when a colourful hearse that was central to the exhibit was banned at short notice by organisers due to the risk of “emotional distress” to spectators.
St Lawrence Battle of Flowers Association intended to use the vehicle, provided by a local business as a way Islanders could celebrate someone’s life at a funeral, rather than mourn, to lead out an Addams Family themed float.
The idea for the float was conceived by the association’s chair, Lara Pickering, as she prepared for her final Battle before stepping down after 12 years’ involvement.
Mrs Pickering agreed a sponsorship deal with Maillards funeral directors, with the company agreeing to support the association’s preparations and lead out the float with the hearse.
Details of the St Lawrence plans were spelled out in the entry form submitted to Battle headquarters on 28 February, and Mrs Pickering said there had been no indication of problems at any point until the start of August.
“We made clear in the form what we’d be doing, as well as doing loads of publicity about the float in parish newsletters and on social media,” she said.
“I felt I risked boring people to death because I was talking about it so much.”
News that the hearse would not be allowed to join the parade came via an email sent on Friday 2 August, with Mrs Pickering told by Battle chair Russell Labey that there was a risk the hearse might upset some of those attending the annual pageant.
“It was devastating – we’d been talking about it for months and hadn’t encountered any negativity from anyone about what was planned,” she said.
“After all the hype and publicity about all 12 parishes being involved, to then find ourselves in this position a week before the event left a sour taste.”
Having “very reluctantly” accepted that the hearse would not be joining the parade, Mrs Pickering said there was further disappointment when the sponsor’s advertisement provided by Maillards was not included in the Battle programme, and the hearse was also prevented from entering the static judging arena at Millbrook on the morning of the Battle.
The St Lawrence entry was also not given any of the several prizes available.
Julian de la Cour, managing funeral director at Maillards, said the company was “bemused” by what had happened.
“The [Battle] committee were fully aware of what was planned, and then it was stopped at the last minute,” he said. “It’s very, very upsetting and we can’t understand the reason for it.
“We’ve had a really positive reaction to the hearse since we added it to our fleet and the idea of celebrating someone’s life after they’ve died has been popular.
“As a sponsor, we didn’t have anything to show for what we spent, but our main emotion was feeling sorry for those who worked so hard on this.”
Responding to a JEP request for comment, Mr Labey defended the decision he had taken.
“There are any number of personal circumstances for which being confronted by a hearse would trigger emotional distress in an unsuspecting parade-goer,” he said. “I am not prepared to run that risk with members of the Battle of Flowers audience.
“Exhibitors regularly contact me for permission or advice, which is exactly what this group should have done at the inception of this ill-conceived initiative.”
