FOR the last few weeks Chalford student Tags Hawker has been creating a brand new website for Cirencester’s March Hare Festival, working alongside festival organizer, Florence Beatlestone.

Tags, 17, who is a second year student on the IT Practitioners Extended Diploma course at Cirencester Sixth Form College, first became involved with the project before Christmas.

Organiseer Florence was looking for some technical support and spoke to the College to see if they could help get the website up and running.

Step forward Tags, who with Florence, will be launching the new website on Friday, May 1.

Tags explains, “I saw the opportunity to gain some experience for my future career in IT. This was the perfect project for me to create something that was going to be seen by a large audience. I have thoroughly enjoyed working on something for the community with Florence.”

Florence has equally valued the experience of working with one of the College’s students, “It has been brilliant having a young person to help me with the project. Tags has worked really hard on the website and his input has been invaluable. We are really looking forward to the festival this year and although it is on a smaller scale, we will still be fundraising to make next year’s event as big as 2014 with a £100,000 target to raise.”

Planned for the summer between May 25 and September 14 will be the Small Hare Passport Trail.

Florence hopes this to be as popular as last year’s Hare Hunt of Cirencester, with passports available to find the 50 small hares around shops and buildings of Cirencester. Passports can be collected from the Visitor Information Point, Bingham House and the Visitor Information Centre at the Museum.

From June 11 to July 4, in partnership with the College there will be a ‘Midsummer Hare Art Extravaganza’ featuring artwork, music, dance and drama.

Throughout the summer the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust begins the development of the Hare Festival Way this summer with the unveiling of seven of the large hares at key places on route.

Vice Principal at Cirencester College, Libby Reed said: “It has been great for the Sixth Form College and its students to be involved so closely with the Hare Festival. We are really proud of the work Tags has done on the website. He has demonstrated an ability to work independently and to use his own initiative, which will give him an excellent start to his future career in IT.’

Organiser Florence is still looking for more artists for the Festival, if you are interested or want to find out more information at the Hare Festival contact cirenharefest@gmail.com

Or visit the new website which goes live on Friday, 1 May, cirencesterharefestival.org.uk