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The Flower Market College Day seems to grow and grow every year, not only in the number of students, but also in the scope of its vision and in its success.
Sponsored by European Connoisseurs Travel, specialists in group tour travel, the Flower Market College Day welcomed 550 students and tutors in the early hours with the aim of providing a fun, interactive opportunity for all to learn about how New Covent Garden Flower Market, the UK’s largest wholesale Flower Market, operates.
There was a packed programme of activities in store for the students. Level 3 students competed as small teams of 4-5 students in the College Day Competition.
This year, they were charged with creating a Christmas Wall or Door hanging, with the theme of "Winter Wonderland" for the special "Open evening" of a contemporary hair salon.
Teams were given three hours and a budget of just £30 to come up with a design idea, buy their materials from the Flower Market traders, and create their floral piece. Marks were split equally between design and commercial judging. Hillingdon College won the design schedule and Barnfield College won the commercial schedule, but the overall winners were Merrist Wood with 173 marks out of 200.
Level 2 students moved around to enjoy introductions to the Flower Market, floral necklace workshops with Flor-Unikon, the Flower Market Challenge and a open and honest presentation on the pitfalls and opportunities of the industry by F&WB’s very own Caroline Marshall-Foster entitled "Making Money from Flowers".
All students and tutors came together at the end of the morning for a floral design demonstration in the Flower Market Stage Area by Victoria Richards, who recently competed for the UK at WorldSkills London. Victoria’s stunning demonstration was compered by her WorldSkills mentor, Joe Massie, and the discussion covered Victoria’s WorldSkills journey, her studies at South Staffordshire College and her work at Herbarium Florist.
The Flower Market College Day looks set to become a highlight of the Flower Market calendar for traders and students alike. To ensure your college is informed of news about the Flower Market College Day 2012, send your full contact details to Liz Anderson, consultant to New Covent Garden Flower Market at liz@lizanderson.co.uk.
