Guild Awards 'Apprentice of the Year'

Zoe Basham is the first Royal Parks' Apprentice to win The Royal Parks Guild 'Apprentice of the Year Award'. Zoe, who is based in Greenwich Park and works for landscape maintenance provider Turfsoil Ltd, was judged to be the person who has most benefitted from her first year on the three-year programme.

GROW, the award winning Royal Parks' Apprenticeship Programme was re-launched in 2007, when 10 apprentices were taken on for three years of learning and practical experience. Another 10 will start this autumn, and it is planned that in future there will be 30 apprentices working in The Royal Parks. Zoe Basham, Royal Parks Apprentice said: "This was a complete shock and of course I'm delighted. I now have something important to live up to."

Peter Hughes, Horticultural Landscape Development Officer for The Royal Parks said: "The Royal Parks' Apprenticeship Programme offers a fantastic opportunity for people to combine practical experience and classroom learning in an environment renowned for horticultural excellence. I am delighted that Zoe has received this award and that she has taken so much from the scheme. It is a true reflection of the commitment she has shown, both to her work and to her college studies."

Mike Fitt, chairman of the Royal Parks Guild, and one of the assessors for the Apprentice of the Year Award, said: "Zoe has been an outstanding apprentice, and after just one year she has reached a high standard of competence and practical ability. I am sure she will have a great future in amenity horticulture. There are still two years to go before her apprenticeship period is completed, so she has now set the benchmark for her colleague apprentices to reach. It's an exciting period for Zoe, and The Royal Parks Apprenticeship Programme."

John Newton, Chairman of Turfsoil said: "We are delighted that Zoe has won this most prestigious award. She has been a model employee and fully justified the ongoing support that Turfsoil has been pleased to provide to The Royal Parks Apprenticeship Scheme".

For further information please contact:

The Royal Parks: Katy Murray on 0300 061 2128 or email kmurray@royalparks.gsi.gov.uk

or The Royal Parks Guild: Graham Clarke on 012 0257 5967 or email info@theroyalparksguild.org.

Notes to Editors

About The Royal Parks Apprenticeship Scheme:

• GROW, The Royal Parks Apprenticeship Programme is run in partnership with its landscape maintenance contractors, and Capel Manor College, and is open to young people as well as older applicants and existing staff. For further details about the scheme, or for an application form, please visit: www.royalparks.org.uk/about/grow.cfm
• As a result of the successful Apprenticeship Programme, The Royal Parks has won the 'Most Outstanding Commitment to Training Award' in the October 2008 Horticulture Week Awards.
• Apprentices gain experience in the care and management of public and private gardens, sports grounds and green community areas. This involves development and maintenance of lawns and borders, trees, shrubs, hedges, herbaceous plants and bedding displays.
• On completion of the three-year course, participants will be fully qualified as gardeners with NVQ Levels II & III in Amenity Horticulture and The Royal Horticultural Society Certificate. They will also be in a very good position to take on supervisory and management roles in the horticultural industry.

About Zoe Basham:

• Before joining the Apprenticeship Programme Zoe studied floristry.
• Zoe is 20 years old and is from Erith in Kent.

About The Royal Parks Guild and the Awards:

• The Royal Parks Guild launched in July 2006 with the purpose of supporting the work of The Royal Parks, including The Royal Parks Apprenticeship Scheme.
• The Guild is a membership body comprised of former and current staff, contractors and volunteers who previously worked for or who were involved with The Royal Parks.
• For further information please visit www.theroyalparksguild.org.
• The Royal Parks Guild, through its Training & Education Sub-committee, and upon recommendations by The Royal Parks, Capel Manor College and the Park Landscape Contractors will be making further awards to high-achieving apprentices in the coming years. These will include 'Best in Year', the 'Personal Achievement Award', and the 'George Cooke Award'* for the best apprentice at the end of their 3-year period of training.
  
  *The George Cooke Award is named in honour of the late George Cooke, former Royal Parks Apprentice Master and Superintendent at Hampton Court Palace, who was responsible for setting up overseeing the original Royal Parks apprenticeship scheme in the 1960s and 70s.

About The Royal Parks:

• The Royal Parks is an executive agency of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
• The Royal Parks are: Bushy Park, The Green Park, Greenwich Park, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, The Regent's Park and Primrose Hill, Richmond Park and St James's Park. For further information please visit: www.royalparks.org.uk.