County to mark Queen's Platinum Jubilee in style

An exciting programme of events is being planned by Worcestershire County Council for the whole county to get involved in, to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen's Platinum Jubilee later this year.

To celebrate the Queen's historic 70-year reign, the County Council will be supporting and encouraging Worcestershire communities to celebrate in a wide range of ways.

The festivities will also give the Council and residents the chance to celebrate Royal links to the county and also the achievements of Worcestershire and its people and businesses over the past 70 years.

The Lord-Lieutenant of Worcestershire, Lt Col Patrick Holcroft LVO OBE, said: "This year, Her Majesty The Queen will become the first British Monarch ever to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee.

"Plans for County and District celebrations are already well underway, thanks to the enthusiastic support of the County Council. 

"I am particularly keen to encourage Worcestershire's towns and villages to hold their own celebrations during the Jubilee weekend of 2-5 June. 

"Given the difficult times that we have all been through it will be a wonderful opportunity to bring our communities together by holding street parties, a Big Jubilee Lunch, lighting a beacon or planting a tree for The Queen's Green Canopy."

The County Council is already heavily involved in the Queen's Green Canopy campaign locally which is a unique tree planting initiative created to mark Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee. The Council has supported the Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire to write to parishes, schools, business owners, land owners, community groups and others with details on how they can get involved with tree planting. And there's still time in this planting season (which end in March) to get involved.

Councillor Adam Kent, Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Corporate Services and Communication, said: "This is such a momentous occasion and we really would like the whole of Worcestershire to get involved.

"The County Council is honoured to be organising a programme of events for Worcestershire and we'll make sure we do Her Majesty The Queen proud as she done this nation proud over the past 70 years.

"We know the people of Worcestershire will be keen to get involved and I'd like to encourage people to organise their own events in their own communities and share their stories with us."

The County Council will be sharing guidance via downloadable resources on ideas for street parties. It is also commissioning a large exhibition at the Hive and other county libraries to include archive film and photography of royal visits along with the commissioning of a specially written, county- centric song that school children will be able to learn and sing.

The Council will also be running exciting competitions, including a photography competition, the result of which, along with the song, will form a lasting legacy of how the county of Worcestershire celebrated the reign of Her Majesty The Queen.

Communities will be asked to share their plans so as many people can be part of what they are doing as possible and these plans will be shared on a dedicated webpage which the Council say will be up and running in the coming weeks.

There are plans underway to light a number beacons across the county and land owners are being contacted now to help make this vision a reality.

A Royal-style garden party is also planned to celebrate those who have supported the county and for those who have been tantamount to our successes over the last 70 years - from heroes from the last two years to tireless volunteers and community groups who have supported our residents for many years, to businesses and individuals who have helped our county to become what it is today.

Support is available for communities via a £22million National Lottery fund. This has been made available to help communities across the country come together to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee. More information on the fund can be accessed via the National Lottery website

Further details about the programme of activities for Worcestershire will be announced in the next few weeks.

The County Council is encouraging residents and community groups to come up with ideas and share them to help as many people to feel involved as possible. If you have an idea on how to celebrate the Jubilee, please email the County Council at wccjubileeideas@worcestershire.gov.uk Ideas will be collated and added to the webpage once live.