The Grand Final is to be held at the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin on May 7th where we will see some of the brightest young talent in the horticultural profession competing for the prestigious title of CIH Young Horticulturist of the Year 2016. The winner will receive the £2500 Travel Bursary provided by the Percy Thrower Trust and will be able to use it to further their horticultural career anywhere in the world.
Following the eight regional finals during March, we are now able to announce the eight winners who will be competing at the Grand Final:
Scotland – Lachlan Rae; Ireland – Francis Mulholland; Northern – Sally Newbrook; North West and North Wales – Joshua Stevens; Midlands and South Wales – Lydia Mackay; Eastern – Fern Champney; South East – Lawrence Wright; South West – Miriam Petry.
Andrew Gill CHort, FCIHort, President of the Chartered Institute of Horticulture said “I am excited about the Chartered Institute of Horticulture Young Horticulturist of the Year competition which just gets better each year and I am looking forward to the Grand Final in Dublin. Last year over 1,800 young horticulturists from around the UK and Ireland competed for the title. Since the competition started in 1990 an incredible estimated 25,000 people have participated in this prestigious annual competition which attracts more positive coverage for the profession each year. We are indebted to our national sponsors: The Shropshire Horticultural Society, which is the major sponsor of the competition and who, through the Percy Thrower Trust, provide the Travel Bursary prize for the winner and also the considerable sponsorship of the Grand Final, the recruitment company MorePeople, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) and Wyevale Garden Centres Ltd. There are also many regional and local sponsors and I am also delighted for 2016 to welcome The Horticultural Trades Association (HTA), as a new Gold national sponsor.”
A quote from The National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin. ‘This is Ireland’s premier garden. It is famous for its uniquely restored glasshouses including the Curvilinear Range of Glasshouses designed by Richard Turner and the Great Palm House. The gardens has many features including double sided herbaceous borders, rose garden, rockery, organic vegetable garden, tropical and native orchid collection, cacti and succulent collections and a collection of native wild plants.”
Simon Badrock from the Shropshire Horticultural Society said “The Shropshire Horticultural is very pleased to once again sponsor the Young Horticulturist of the Year Competition. The Society strongly believes in the promotion and support of horticultural education and the Competition achieves this in a positive way.”
The 2015 YHoY winner Jessica Evans, Senior Gardener at the National Trusts Tintinhull Gardens in Somerset said “I am delighted to have won the Young Horticulturist of the Year 2015 competition and look forward to using the travel bursary to further my training in horticulture. Having finished second in the competition last year, my over-whelming emotion when the final scores were announced was relief, especially as this was the last year I would be eligible to enter. I would now really like to support the running of the competition, and to encourage others to take part, as it is vitally important to celebrate the quality and knowledge of young horticulturists.”
To find out more about the competition and how to take part visit the Young Horticulturist of the Year pages at www.horticulture.org.uk .
Join in the discussions with past and present competitors on Facebook CIHort and Twitter @CIHort.
Anyone interested in taking part in, or sponsoring the 2017 competition should contact the Chartered Institute of Horticulture – Email: cih@horticulture.org.uk
