Trust's £35,000 to mark village century

It is 100 years since Joseph Rowntree bought the land on which to build New Earswick, and villagers have been invited to have their say on how they would like to celebrate the occasion.

Trustees of the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust have set aside £35,000 for villagers to spend and at a meeting today, ideas were being put forward on the best way to spend the cash.

The meeting at New Earswick Folk Hall, Hawthorne Terrace, aimed to generate a range of celebrations that benefit residents of all ages, incorporating the environment, sport, the arts and music, community achievement, and local history. In addition to the £35,000, work will be undertaken by the trust to improve road signs, plant trees and produce a booklet outlining the history of New Earswick.

Jacqui Dale, community services manager at the trust, said: "The meeting is about bringing people together and getting them creatively thinking about what sort of things would make a difference. My expectation is that we'll come out with a whole range of different ideas - some very local and small, and some much larger.

"The theme of the year is celebration but also commemoration.

"We will be looking over the last 100 years, but also looking to forward to the future."

City of York Councillor Carol Runciman, whose ward includes New Earswick, said: "It's such an active community, there are so many organisations and they all want to contribute and they are all very committed.

"The centenary is particularly important because it is the start of the history of the area. There aren't very many places you can go and say 'It began like this'.

"Even the bricks for the houses were made in New Earswick and that's very special."

Don Crawford, chairman of New Earswick parish council, said: "So many things are going wrong around about us that it's nice to celebrate something concrete, something that started good and is just getting better."

Updated: 11:20 Saturday, January 12, 2002