Once again MorePeople are sponsoring the regional heats and finals of the Young Horticulturist of the Year competition. Over the next few weeks scores of young horticulturist's up and down the country will take part in the numerous local heats that lead to the 8 regional finals and eventually on to the national final - this year taking place at the National Botanical Garden in Wales, near Carmarthen on May 9th.

The competition is open to anyone involved in horticulture who is below the age of 30 on July 31st 2009. MorePeople are keen to work with the organisers of YHOY 2009 to encourage the event to be seen in a wider context - not just something that is open to students or academics. To this end we are delighted that 2009 sees the introduction of a new innovation for the competition – online entry! This has been designed to facilitate easy access for those wanting to take part in the competition but have until now been unable, due to work commitments or just because of their location, to gain access to one of the venues holding the regional heats.

As before there is a great range of prizes on offer to those taking part with not only the top award of a £2,000 travel bursary, donated by the Percy Thrower Trust, going to the overall winner but also many smaller prizes available to the winners of the heats and regional finals.

So are you a budding YHOY or do you know someone in your organisation that you think should take part?

Wouldn’t you like to follow in the footsteps of last year’s winner Patrick Wiltshire and tour North America or like previous winners visit New Zealand and all parts of Europe?

YHOY 2009 is not only a great opportunity for those individuals that take part but also a great way for employers to motivate their staff whilst at the same time promoting their businesses!

If you would like to enter this year’s YHOY then follow the link below to the IoH website where you will find the competition rules and all the entry details.

http://www.horticulture.org.uk/yhoy

For anyone wanting to know more about the new online entry options contact Susan Nicholas on 07860 316989 or e-mail her at susan.nicholas@btinternet.com