Calling all Young Horticulturists! The first round heats of the Institute of Horticulture's Young Horticulturist of the Year 2008 competition are just getting under way. Anyone aged under 30 on or before the 31st July 2008 and engaged in some way in the horticultural sector in UK and Ireland is eligible to enter. The Competition is run in three phases - local heats, branch finals and the national final which this year is being held on 3rd May at the Eden Project in Cornwall.

Once again MorePeople are proud to be one of the key sponsors of the competition and in particular the regional heats. Commenting on the event MorePeople director Guy Moreton says "As a professional Horticulturist and Fellow of the IoH I am naturally keen to encourage and support the development and nurturing of talented young people in our sector. As a businessman I am also keen to encourage a wider take up of entrants for the YHOY within the commercial sector of the industry. Traditionally it has perhaps been seen a little bit as a competition mainly for students but one of the key reasons that we got involved was to help Sue Nicholas and her team broaden the appeal of the contest and try to encourage more of those under 30's out there in the commercial sector to get involved."

The overall winner of the competition collects the Percy Thrower Travel Bursary of £2,000. This is provided by the Shropshire Horticultural Society and is designed to fund the winner on a horticultural tour to any where in the world. Previous winners have visited New Zealand, the Himalayas, the USA and all parts of Europe.

So as you can see the YHOY competition not only provides the winner with a fantastic opportunity to travel to some of the most horticulturally interesting places in the world but it is also a great platform for both the individuals taking part and their sponsoring organisations to promote their businesses.

Do you know someone in your business that you think could benefit from this sort of opportunity? If you would like to find out more about YHOY 2008 then follow the link below to find the contact details for your regional organiser.

 http://www.horticulture.org.uk/PDF/BRORG2008.pdf