‘Can you help city blossom?’ (From Oxford Mail)

‘Can you help city blossom?’

4:00pm Monday 11th March 2013 in News By Damian Fantato, covering Summertown, Jericho and North Oxford. Call me on 01865 425429

OXFORD is looking for one blooming good volunteer to prove the city has plenty of flower power.

Last year Oxford City Council struggled to get someone to volunteer as a coordinator for the city’s entry into the prestigious Britain in Bloom contest and is hoping it won’t prove as hard in 2013.

And the city has had some success to bank on, having won a Silver Gilt award in the Thames and Chiltern in Bloom contest – one of the 17 regional campaigns which make up Britain in Bloom.

Mark Lygo, the city council’s board member for parks and sport is leading the call for a new coordinator so the city can build on this success.

He said: “This is something I am passionate about and this year I want to step it up.

“It would suit somebody who is passionate about Oxford. It could be a retired person or a student and it would look great on someone’s CV.

“You don’t necessarily have to be a passionate gardener to do it, just somebody with organisational skills.

“But we don’t want to scare people off: this is not a daunting job which will take hours of time. It will be less than a day a week.”

Before last year Oxford had not entered Britain in Bloom since 2007. It had won the small city category in 2002.

A volunteer came forward at the last minute last year but despite winning the regional Silver Gilt overall, Oxford was not entered into the national competition by the judges.

Headington’s Bury Knowle Park won the best park in the local authority/trust category and Oxford Business Park North, won the best park in the commercial category.

The current budget for Oxford in Bloom is £3,800. In 2007, the budget was about £12,000 and the council also had a member of staff working on the project.

If someone were to volunteer for the role it would involve bringing together the work going on in parks, open spaces, university and college gardens and residential gardens.

The volunteer will be supported by the city council’s parks and open spaces team and will be reimbursed for agreed expenses.

While there is no deadline as such, the city council will need to have an idea of whether anyone is coming forward by the end of April.

Anyone interested in coming forward should contact the city council on parks@oxford.gov.uk or call 01865 252240.

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