Float designer Rupert Cuddon-Large, Deputy Debbie de Sousa and George de Sousa in the St Lawrence field where the flowers are growing for the Battle entry. Picture: DAVID FERGUSON (00988641)

After an eight-year gap, St Helier is heading back into the Battle of Flowers.

It was in 2002, following a long run of entries in the Battle that the parish pulled out of the parade.

The parish’s Battle committee was disbanded and in the eight years that have followed they have not entered any form of float into the August event.

However, this year, under the leadership of Deputy Debbie De Sousa, the parish will make a return to the parade – concerned not with winning any prizes, but with getting the parish back into carnival mood and, most importantly, getting St Helier back onto the Battle arena.

The team
St Helier is being led back into battle by Deputy De Sousa, who has been the driving force behind the parish’s return. She is the team’s chairman, with the Constable, Simon Crowcroft, as her deputy. Other States members on the committee include parish Deputies Judy Martin, Paul Le Claire, Andrew Green and Shona Pitman, as well as a number of parishioners.

As well as being an avid fan of the Battle of Flowers, Deputy De Sousa has helped with entries for the parade in the past, having been involved with the Mary Bidan and Friends entry a few times.

‘I’ve always been a fan of the Battle,’ she said. ‘I remember watching it with my family in the days when there actually used to be a real battle.
‘It is such a great event – one of the biggest in the Island calendar. Everyone puts so much hard work into the parade and it is exciting that St Helier is now going to be a part of that.’
why 2010?

Deputy De Sousa said that even before being elected Deputy in 2008, she was determined that the parish should be back in the parade.

‘The fact that St Helier hosts the Battle of Flowers but that we haven’t entered for the last eight years is what made me determined to do this,’ she said. ‘All interest just seemed to have gone in the parish, but I just thought we had to do this.
‘Even before I was elected as a parish Deputy, I had thought about doing this. After I was elected I spoke to the Constable and he was really excited with my ideas and was totally on board.

‘In April last year I formed an association and we had initially hoped to enter the Battle last year, but there wasn’t enough time. We started running ideas around and told the Battle Association that we were going to re-enter, and work really started on the exhibit in October and November last year.’

And Deputy De Sousa said that she hopes that other parishes will follow St Helier’s lead.

‘It would be good to have every parish back in the Battle,’ she said. ‘It is such a good example of community spirit and it really shows how well local communities can pull together.’

The float
The entry into Battle 2010 is based on the twinning of Funchal and St Helier and, as a play on words, is called ‘Funelier’.

The design for the float includes a depiction of the hermitage at Elizabeth Castle and one of the basket sleighs from Monte in Funchal. The float will be semi-floral and will be 25 foot long.

‘We thought it would be easier to do a semi-floral entry to begin with,’ said Deputy De Sousa. ‘It will be a mixture of real flowers, paper flowers and things like moss and flower arrangements. We’re not out to win, we are just trying to bring some Battle fun into the parish.

‘We have tried to go back to basics. We have begged for things and it is surprising how much people have helped. An architect drew up our designs for free, Pentagon has provided the materials for nothing and the parish has helped in loads of ways.’
Deputy De Sousa said that already parishioners of all ages are on board with the project. ‘The Guides are involved, as are the children from First Tower School and the three parish nursing homes,’ she said.

‘We will see how it goes this year, but we will definitely be back again next year and, who knows, we could attempt something a bit bigger next time.’

THE flowers
Unlike many of the other Battle entrants, the parish have set themselves the challenge of growing all of their flowers locally, instead of importing them from places like Holland. They will mainly be asters and sunflowers.

Deputy De Sousa said: ‘Some have been grown at a farm in St Lawrence and the rest are being grown in a parish field at Westmount. The rest of them we are going to be pinching from town! It is difficult to say how many flowers we are going to need yet because we haven’t the experience.

‘Years ago, entrants in the battle used to all grow their own flowers, and we were keen to do that again. We were keen to highlight the fact that Jersey can grow its own flowers – and it’s good for our carbon footprint as well.’

THe progress
In recent months the team have been getting together every fortnight to discuss plans for the float. At the end of last week the wood and other materials arrived so work began on constructing the exhibit. Building is taking place at the old parish site at Westmount quarry, and this is expected to take around three weeks.

The original base and tractor from when St Helier used to enter the parade have been kept in the parish for the last eight years. These have been serviced and Battle officials have said that they are fit for purpose.

‘We are not doing any harestailing work on the float, so the main thing over the next few weeks is going to be building, as well as looking after the flowers – weeding and making sure that they are growing OK,’ said Deputy De Sousa. ‘After that, it will be all hands on deck to get the float ready in time.

‘We are also in the process of sorting costumes. We are keeping them fairly simple. The parish colours are blue and yellow and Funchal’s flag is blue, yellow and purple, so we are sticking to those colours.’

Work has also begun on choreographing a routine for the float’s dancers. This is being done by Miss Battle, Sarah Watson, who is also Miss St Helier. Dancing is going to be performed to a Portuguese song, a remix of Flashdance and Dancing in the Street. The dancers are currently rehearsing every Sunday at the quarry.