Art in the park

A budding artist has won first prize in an art day competition to capture Bushey's award winning park.

Richard Cassidy, aged 30, from Bushey was presented with a £20 voucher by Mayor Martin Heywood and Mayoress Cllr Jean Heywood after his picture of King George Park came first. Colin Ixer came a close second place and received a 2nd place certificate.

The competition was set up by Hertsmere Borough Council in conjunction with Watford Mencap's Leisure Together service.

Shaz Setoudeh, Parks Events and Project Officer, said: "We invited Leisure Together members to take part in the competition and set them the challenge to create a piece of artwork which represented our award winning park.

"Richard's picture is fantastic and really captures the beauty of King George Park."

Richard was presented with the voucher outside the Civic Office in Borehamwood on Friday 28th July.

Mayor Martin Heywood, said: "We had lots of outstanding pictures and it was hard to pick just one winner. However, Richard's picture really stood out, so I was delighted to present him with the voucher for Hobbycraft. I hope he can use it to carry on making such delightful pieces of art work."

Richard is a member of Leisure Together, a service provided by Watford Mencap to people with learning disabilities in the Watford and Hertsmere areas.

Watford Mencap’s Leisure Together Co-ordinator, Brenda Pegg, was delighted with the support offered by the Hertsmere Parks and Gardens team. She said: "We have a regular monthly art workshop running in Borehamwood and it was very kind of Shaz and team to organise an outside event for the people who attend this workshop in King George Recreation Ground.

"To be outside on such a beautiful day provided great inspiration and we all enjoyed ourselves very much. It’s a real benefit to our members when we get such valuable help from the community and our wonderful team of volunteers."