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Zest For Life
Ross Jones | The Zest for Life Rose Initiative was created by the parents of Ross Jones, a former student of Thomas Adams College. In January 2005, just three weeks before his 18th birthday, Ross was tragically killed in a road traffic accident whilst returning from visiting a friend on a wild and stormy night. At about the same time, Mr Tony Stephens, then the head of Thomas Adams School, launched a partnership project linking the school with Miriu School in Kenya. Friends of ours had presented us with a rose called ‘Bright Smile’ in memory of Ross and it was this that first generated the idea of having a special rose named in his memory that could be sold to generate income for the Partnership Project.
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Following discussions with Mr Stephens about how this might develop as a fundraising tool, I set out to pull the idea together as a formal proposal and sent this out to a number of rose breeders. The name of the rose came to me one morning and seemed to me to express Ross’s attitude to life, his exuberance and happy state of mind. It also seemed to express hopefulness and the promise of things to come. Almost immediately I was contacted by Matt Gill from World of Roses expressing a keen interest in helping us to develop the initiative. From this point, July 2005, it took 12 months to develop the idea into a product. In October 2006, a friend and I visited World of roses in Bedford and eventually we chose the rose we thought best suited our project. The orange blended floribunda we chose has a beautiful scent, grows to about 18 inches and has wonderfully shiny foliage.
In July 2006, we attended a formal launch ceremony at Hampton Court Place Flower Show. This was followed by a local ceremony at the Eckford Sweet Pea Show in Wem. Local press, the Shropshire Star, North Shropshire Chronicle and Whitchurch herald have ensured that the initiative has been well publicised. As the rose was a completely new variety initially only 50 plants were available so we had to make the most of these few to generate both orders and cash. Two raffles held during the summer raised over £1000. I continue to publicise and develop the rose initiative, spin off products are another way we can raise money, last year we sold greetings cards with a photo of the rose for those who don’t have gardens, watch this space for further developments! | 
Zest For Life |
This year, 2007, roses can be purchased locally, potted roses cost £12.95. Each rose purchased locally generates £6 for the Miriu Fund. The rose can be purchased from Coton Oaks Service Station, Mid-way between Wem and Whitchurch on the B5476. You can also call the school for details on 01939 237000 or email zestforliferose@hotmail.co.uk. You can also order via the World of Roses Website www.worldofroses.com
Karen Jones |
