A PARTY will mark the end of the latest phase of regeneration at a formerly derelict East Oxford churchyard.

A Banbury choir will help mark the occasion by raising their voices to celebrate Evensong following the party at SS Mary and John Church, Cowley Road, on Saturday, May 24.

The party will be the end of a year-long project to create a butterfly garden in the churchyard, which is being carried out thanks to a £8,730 grant from the Big Lottery Fund under the BBC Breathing Places campaign.

Ruth Conway, co-ordinator of the project, said: "We took this very derelict corner and landscaped it.

"Some Co-op staff came and helped us and we've been busy planting things that will be attractive to butterflies and moths."

Log seats are also due to be added and an alder tree will be planted to mark the celebration, which will begin at 3pm and include activities for children.

Mrs Conway said: "We're very much looking forward to it.

"It marks the end of a lot of work by volunteers which has turned a rather derelict corner into something far more attractive."

The Wheatsheaf Consort, which rehearses at Co-op Funeralcare in Banbury, will sing Evensong to round off the party at 5pm in the church.

The choir became involved through choir member and Co-op Funeralcare Oxfordshire manager James Hewison, who was among 13 Co-op workers who helped in the churchyard in June 2007.

Mr Hewison said: "It's very satisfying to have been involved. It has transformed what was frankly quite a dangerous area into a space which is now a rather nice place to be."

Volunteers have been working in the churchyard, which was once a haven for drug users and street drinkers, for almost ten years, and work, including planting, tidying and clearing areas, is ongoing.

Oxford Brookes University students and Bicester-based soldiers also helped the transformation.