ORGANISATIONS, churches and clubs in Okehampton are being approached to take part in a flower festival at St James' Chapel to celebrate the Queen's Golden Jubilee in June.

The idea is to bring people into town over the public holiday from May 31 to June 4 and make full use of the ancient chapel which takes pride of place in Okehampton town centre.

Trustees of St James' Chapel are fully supportive of the idea which is the brainchild of town resident John Bowers — with his wife he used to be in the floristry business before moving to Okehampton two years ago.

He said at this stage it was just a suggestion and its success would depend on people wanting to become involved. He would like groups to contact him if they are interested in doing a display.

'St James' Chapel is a charming little chapel situated in a lovely position and I think a flower festival would be quite uplifting for the town,' he said. 'A floral display is a nice way of paying respect to the Queen in her golden jubilee year.'

Donations are also being sought from businesses who would like to sponsor an arrangement or anyone who would like to contribute flowers.

'Okehampton has some wonderful gardens and flowers and if anyone would be willing to donate some flowers it would be great,' added Mr Bowers.

Another idea is to use display boards to tell the interesting history of St James' Chapel during the festival.

St James' Chapel trustee Bert Crocker said it was a lovely idea to hold a flower festival and he believed it would attract a lot of people into the town.

'The chapel is not very big so it would not take masses of flowers to make it look attractive,' he said. 'I think it is a wonderful way of celebrating the jubilee and if anything, the chapel is under-used at the moment, so it is a nice way of bringing people inside.'

He said the chapel was for every denomination and held a communion service every Thursday with special services throughout the year. He hoped all churches in the town would become involved in the festival.

For more information contact John Bowers on 01837 659590.