Blooming marvellous
-budding gardeners given the chance to design a great British Garden
on the Olympic Park
DEPARTMENT FOR
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT News Release (053/09) issued by COI News
Distribution Service on 8 April 2009
Green-fingered
Brits will have the chance to help design a Great British Garden
on the London 2012 Olympic Park thanks to a nation-wide
competition launched today by Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell.
Run in partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS),
'The RHS Olympic Park Great British Garden Competition'
is designed to showcase one of the nation's favourite
pastimes of gardening, whilst commemorating the Much Wenlock
Olympian Society in Shropshire, whose games inspired Pierre de
Coubertin to found the modern Olympic movement.
Amateur gardeners from across the country will be asked to submit
ideas for a quarter acre site expressing the unique qualities of a
British domestic garden within contemporary parkland, so that
visitors feel like they are wandering through someone's garden.
Six finalists will be shortlisted by a panel of experts before
being put to a public vote in September 2009. Winners will be
chosen from two categories, one 16 or under and one 17 and over.
The winners will work with the team of world-class landscape
architects and garden designers on the Olympic park to design a
great British Garden that will be in bloom during the London 2012
games and remain in legacy.
The competition, part of the London 2012 Inspire programme, will
be open to all. Simple entry forms can be downloaded from http://www.rhs.org.uk/news/olympicpark.asp
. Entrants can submit their forms by post. All entries need to be
in by July 31st 2009.
Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell said:
"London 2012 will showcase everything that's great
about Britain, and there's nothing quite as reassuringly
British as spending an afternoon pottering around the garden.
That's why I want to see a Great British Garden on the
Olympic Park.
"If gardening were an Olympic sport then green fingered
Brits would win gold, silver and bronze. So what better way to
build it than by digging into the well of gardening talent and
enthusiasm across the country?
"This competition, run by the RHS, will give two amateur
gardeners the chance to help build a beautiful British garden on
the Olympic park. That's great for British gardeners, great
for the Olympics and great for the millions of people who will
come to the Olympic park in 2012."
Inga Grimsey, Director General of the Royal Horticultural
Society, said:
"Great Britain is a nation of great gardeners. Gardening
has been part of our social and cultural make-up for generations.
This competition is a fantastic opportunity for the nation to
celebrate its passion for plants, get involved in gardening and
for the winners to literally get their hands dirty and help to
build the Olympic dream.
"The RHS is incredibly proud to be involved in this project.
If we can nurture the nation's interest in gardening, by
being a partner in this competition, then we too will have helped
to create a legacy that goes beyond 2012."
ODA project sponsor for Parklands and Public Realm John Hopkins said:
"This is a fantastic opportunity to be involved in creating
a part of the parklands that will both form a green backdrop to
the London 2012 Games themselves and new public space in legacy.
The Great British Garden will celebrate both the heritage of the
Olympic and Paralympic Games and British gardening traditions,
something that will be reflected throughout the Olympic Park parklands."
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said:
'Britain has the best gardens in the world, so it is fitting
that the Olympic Park will show off our top gardening talent in
this way, also creating a wonderful garden for Londoners to enjoy
for many years after the Games. Today is a rallying cry for our
army of amateur gardeners to rise to this once-in-a-lifetime
horticultural challenge.'
The inspiration for the modern Olympic Games can be traced back
to British doctor, William Penny Brookes who held the first Much
Wenlock 'Olympian Games' in 1850. It was after a visit
to Much Wenlock in 1890 that Pierre de Coubertin, the founding
father of the modern Olympic Games, was convinced to organise the
1896 inaugural Olympic Games in Athens. Entrants will be asked to
consider opportunities to incorporate a 'de Coubertin'
Oak tree, currently being grown in Kew from seedlings taken from
an oak tree de Coubertin planted himself in Much Wenlock, into
their garden design.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. In 2012 the Olympic and Paralympic Games return to London. The
Olympic Park in east London will provide the focus for the Games
with the main stadium and several other venues arranged around the
spectacular parklands either side of the rivers and waterways
within the Park. The Parklands, which will remain in legacy for
all the public to enjoy, bring together the great British
tradition and passion for landscape and garden design, plant
collecting and gardening
2. Entrants will be asked to submit their ideas for the 'The
RHS Olympic Park Great British Garden Competition' by July
31st 2009.
3. Entry forms can be downloaded from http://www.rhs.org.uk/news/olympicpark.asp.
Entrants must outline their idea for the garden on a written/typed
A4 sheet of paper - which should include its inspiration, a
broad-brush out-line of the type of plants, flowers, trees,
features and furniture to be used. Entrants must also submit a
layout of their design with the entry form.
4. Entrants are free to use whatever plants, flowers and trees
they feel reflect a British Garden. Seating and water features
may also be incorporated into the design.
5. A short-list of three entries from each category will be
selected by a panel of experts before being put to a public vote
in September 2009. Work will begin on the garden in 2010.
6. The winners will work with the team of world-class landscape
architects and garden designers of the Olympic Park. This will
require entrants to be available to attend three, day-long design
workshops in London over a period of six weeks - one for design
inception, one for design evolution and one for design completion;
and three, day long on-site construction sessions on the Olympic
Park over a period of six months - one for ground-breaking, one
during construction and one on completion of the garden. Travel
and accommodation expenses will be paid. The Olympic Park is fully accessible.
7. The competition is now part of the London 2012 Inspire
programme. The London 2012 Inspire programme is an opportunity for
everyone to be a part of the London 2012 Games; a broad
participation programme spanning sport participation, medal table
performance development, culture, education, sustainability,
business skills and volunteering. New opportunities are being
created to inspire young people and encourage the whole of the UK
to join in.
8. The garden will be part of over 100 hectares of open space
that will be created in the Olympic Park - the largest urban park
created in Europe for 150 years, which will include 45 hectares of
wildlife habitat. It will use the latest green techniques to
manage flood and rain water while providing quieter public space
and habitats for hundreds of existing and rare species from
kingfishers to otters.
9. For further information please call Sally Aldous, Olympics
Desk, DCMS Press Office on 020 7211 6145 or Georgina Webb, Royal
Horticultural Society Press Office on 020 7821 3044.
Public enquiries: 020 7211 6200
http://www.culture.gov.uk
2-4 Cockspur Street
London SW1Y 5DH
http://www.culture.gov.uk