Hopes for Spalding Flower Parade to continue are still alive, despite this year’s organiser announcing it was cancelled.
After returning for the past two years, the future of the parade was thrown into doubt after Steve Timewell announced on social media last week it wouldn’t return.
However the committee assembled to help run this year’s parade has voted to keep it going.
They’re now looking to raise the £50,000 needed to run it and are after more volunteers to help out.
Committee members have also arranged a meeting with South Holland District Council leader Coun Nick Worth on Friday to try and find a new venue for the event due to the planned redevelopment of the Castle Sports Complex next year.
The committee has been formed as part of the setting up of a not-for-profit Community Interest Company to run the Spalding Flower Parade.
Becs Roberts, the 2024 Flower Queen, said she and her fellow committee members were only given five minutes notice that Mr Timewell was going to put a video online saying the 2025 parade was cancelled, which was then widely reported in the media.
“The news of the cancellation of the 2025 Flower Parade came as a shock to us all,” she said. “Many of the volunteers have thrown their heart and soul into the parade for the last two years.
“An emergency meeting of the newly formed committee and our volunteers was called, here there was a unanimous decision that we wanted a 2025 parade.
“Stephen was so happy to hear this and has promised to come and watch, he has been a great support to us and is handing over the reins.
“This is by no means an easy task, there will be no one leader of the Spalding Flower Parade going forward, we will be a committee, working in teams, to delegate work and hopefully avoiding the immense pressure Stephen has faced.
“This approach has highlighted areas, where we believe the council’s expertise can come to good use, and we really hope they will send representatives to the committee meetings going forward so that this can become a true collaboration of volunteers and council to bring something special to the community again.
“We are meeting with Nick Worth on Friday and hope to be able to deliver something positive after this.”
In his video Mr Timewell said he was proposing to end the parade due to feeling more hurdles were being placed on the event and cited rising costs, highlighting that the medical bill had increased to £17,000.
He also claimed there were no suitable new venues in Spalding and criticised local authorities.
“We’ve had two very good years,” said Mr Timewell, who also said he’d like to spend more time with his mother in Dorset. “We’ve built up a massive community, we’ve achieved so much and have put Spalding back on the map.”
He also claimed he’d had ‘nothing but grief’ from ‘certain people in local authorities’.
Coun Worth disagreed with Mr Timewell’s views and said he was ‘looking forward to working with the new committee.’
A Spalding Flower Parade Just Giving page has been set up in an attempt to raise £50,000.
