Guardian of a city haven

10:17am Monday 28th July 2008

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A PENSIONER who voluntarily dedicates hours each week to keeping a tranquil city park in tip-top shape is in line for an award.

John Coulson, of Holgate, York, has been put forward in the Volunteer Of The Year category in The Press’s Community Awards for spending every day visiting West Bank Park and making sure it is free of litter, the plants are watered and the birds are fed.

The 72-year-old chairs the Friends of West Bank Park volunteer group, and has been central in helping to get the park awarded the coveted Green Flag status in recognition of its role as a focal point for its community.

The accolade, awarded by the Civic Trust, is the national benchmark for the quality of green spaces, with the winners all judged to be safe, well-maintained and welcoming, and thanks to green-fingered John, West Bank Park has been awarded the special status for the past two years.

John has been put forward for the Volunteer Of The Year award by Coun Denise Bowgett, of Holgate ward. She said it was about time he was rewarded for all his hard work.

She said: “John is a special friend to West Bank Park and he visits it every day, sometimes twice a day. He has been a visitor to the park for about 40 years.

“He is a founder member of the Friends of West Bank Park and was instrumental in creating the highly praised rockery area as well as helping plant many of the bulbs.

“John can be found feeding the birds, picking up litter and carrying out an inspection of the park. Everyone knows him and he has many friends.

“No matter if he his feeling off colour or it is bad weather, John turns out to do his wonderful work. I think it is time John was rewarded for all the work he does.

“He works tirelessly for the benefit of everyone, although he says he loves every minute of it.”

We have now stopped accepting nominations for Community Pride Awards 2008.

A panel of judges is currently whittling down the nominations ahead of a ceremony to be held at York Racecourse in October this year.

Our judges will select three finalists in each category, which will be announced in The Press on Wednesday, August 30.