Photograph of (from left to right) Leslie Johansen-Salters (Volunteer Coordinator), Lucy Hand (Volunteer Coordinator), Malcolm Hand (Project Board), Caroline Palmer (Volunteer Coordinator), Helen Lazenby (Communications Coordinator), Jon Finch (Project Board) and Patricia Shepherd (Volunteer Coordinator).Exciting news, we have now made five extremely important appointments. These are the Volunteer Coordinators who will be the contacts for the many volunteers who are keen to make a contribution to the project. They will each cover groups of counties across the country. If you haven’t met someone from the project or if you would like to volunteer to help then please get in touch with your Volunteer Coordinator (details below, headed 'Volunteer Coordinators')
Earlier in November I gave a talk to members of the Association of Gardens Trusts at the Swedenborg Hall. I had to think of a simile for the work that we had done since I spoke there back in March. It came to mind that the Parks & Gardens UK project in that time has been like a tree grown from seed. So far we have been growing in many ways but the shoots are only now ready to start showing above the soil.
The first stage in the growth of the Parks & Gardens project has been developing a project staff. We began with the technical team and a communications coordinator. The technical team; John Warden – Data Manager and Janet Davis – Web Manager, have been working hard to draw up a detailed specification for the project data-base and web-site. They have also been working away on recruiting a company to actually build the system that they have specified. We are pleased to announce that we have agreed and signed a contract with Altcom, a firm based in Cornwall with a strong track record in web based data-bases for public use. The work on the data-base and web-site will be starting immediately and you can expect to see the results sprouting above the soil in the spring.
Our Communications Coordinator, Sarah Collins, is now on Maternity Leave and expecting her baby around Christmas time. We are really pleased to have Helen Lazenby taking on Sarah’s role while she is away.
One last piece of news is a change in the staff. Having tended the project through the formative stages I am moving to a different role as Community Archaeologist for York. I will be keeping a close eye on the project and encouraging people to think about recording gardens as part of their historical and archaeological projects. I am pleased to be able to tell you that my replacement has already been appointed. Rachael Sturgeon will be starting work on 11th December and will be using her extensive project management skills to guide the project through the next very exciting stages.
Dr Jon Kenny, Parks & Gardens UK
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