Flower show called off for second year
SOUTHPORT Flower Show has been cancelled for the second consecutive year with organisers uncertain over whether Covid restrictions will be lifted.
The charity which runs the event says the decision was made with a heavy heart but argued there was no other option as a last minute cancellation would have caused a financial crisis.
The event had been due to take place from August 19-22, just weeks after the earliest date when restrictions could be lifted but Max Steinberg CBE, chair of the Southport Flower Show board, said “there are too many elements that remain uncertain”.
He said: “We have closely monitored the situation over the past few months, and it has become clear that due to the uncertainty of the pandemic we have no other option but to cancel the show for a second successive year.
“Despite the easing of lockdown measures and the progressive vaccination programme, there are still too many elements that remain uncertain. The date of June 21 is the earliest the final restrictions could be lifted and that date may be extended.
“If we were to go ahead and for whatever reason the show had to be cancelled at the last minute, it would have severe financial implications for the charity.
“The board of trustees unanimously agreed that it was better to protect the long-term survival of the show by planning for 2022. We know what the show means to Southport, the North West region, exhibitors, competitors, sponsors, stewards, staff, volunteers, and our loyal visitors. We have not taken this decision lightly and we will return in 2022 with our best show ever.”
The flower show is one of the biggest fixtures in Southport’s calendar each year and the largest of its kind in the North West. Around 55,000 visitors descend on Victoria Park each year resulting in a boost to the local economy worth around £4 million.
Last year’s cancellation was the first time the town had not hosted the flower show since World War Two.
Alan Adams, general manager of Southport Flower Show and Victoria Park Events, said: “This was a very difficult decision to make and the fragility of the Government’s roadmap, alongside the uncertainty over holding large events this summer, made planning for the 2021 show untenable.
“The first consideration must be the health and wellbeing of everyone involved in the show and how we keep our visitors safe. The show has become a much-loved fixture in the horticultural calendar and in the region’s summer events programme attracting over 55,000 visitors. The decision to cancel for a second year has been taken with an extremely heavy heart but we believe this to be the only course of action as we continue to work through these unprecedented times, and I would like to ask everyone for their support.”
The organisers have asked people who have already purchased tickets for the 2021 show to consider supporting the show by rolling over their tickets to next year’s event taking place from August 18-21.
COVID-19 home testing kits are now available for collection from two sites across Sefton.
The sites are: Bootle Town Hall and Splash World in Southport. Packs are available for households with school and nursery pupils, members of support bubbles, people working in childcare and other caring occupations.
The packs contain seven lateral flow tests which provide results in under an hour, and are also available for frontline staff, self-employed people and sole traders who require regular testing.
People can collect two packs from the centres which are open from 8am until 8pm seven days a week. No appointments are necessary, but those collecting the packs must be over 18.
The packs have full instructions on how to take the test and register results.
Margaret Jones, Sefton Council’s director of public health, said: “With school pupils and staff, people providing care and those in a range of frontline roles needing to take these lateral flow Covid tests regularly, we want to make it easier for people across Sefton to be able to get hold of them more easily.
“Once they have collected their packs, providing them with up to 14 tests, they can use them as regularly as they want to or need to.”
Anyone in Sefton in Merseyside showing any of the coronavirus symptoms of a new continuous cough, a fever or a loss or change in their sense of smell or taste should get a coronavirus test straight away.