EPPING: Council to honour St George despite local apathy (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

EPPING: Council to honour St George despite local apathy

9:48am Wednesday 19th March 2008 in

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EPPING Town Council is going patriotic and will be flying the flag for St George's Day next month, despite apathy from some quarters of the community.

Councillors have decided the patron saint of England will be recognised in Epping and have come up with a competition to get people involved.

High Street pubs and businesses are being invited to take part by decorating their shop front with a St George's Day theme.

The idea was thought up at a town council meeting after some other suggestions, such as baking a giant cake, were discarded.

After much deliberation it was agreed that shops could compete for the best window display with the winners receiving a certificate presented by mayor Nick Hines.

But despite a lack of interest from local organisations who did not offer proposals for the day, deputy mayor Ben Murphy wants the town council to lead the way in celebrating St George.

He said: "I believe that we, as a town council, should fly the flag. I think we could still pull this out of the bag and get people on board."

The flag of St George will be flown outside Epping Hall, in St John's Road, with businesses encouraged to do the same.

April 23 is often forgotten in England with more celebrations given to Ireland's patron saint, St Patrick.

The town council will award certificates to businesses which have the best St George's displays.