THORNBURY In Bloom (TiB) has revamped its online presence thanks to the help of Bristol students.

Budding computer experts from the University of the West of England (UWE) developed a new-look website and boosted the social media output of TiB.

TiB is one of 15 community, voluntary and social enterprise organisations given a web or IT boost by the final year web design and IT students.

The university’s consultancy scheme has helped groups around Bristol for close to 30 years.

Five students were tasked with helping TiB reach out to the town’s younger community.

Club chairman and town mayor Guy Rawlinson said he found out about the student consultancy projects following a social media course run by the Thornbury Volunteer Centre in the town.

“We really wanted to engage a wider section of our community and to get young people involved in civic pride and making the town look beautiful which is at the heart of the In Bloom national competition,” he said.

“We were very lucky to win a bid for the consultancy run by UWE Bristol as the scheme is well known now and has a reputation for delivering excellent work.”

Christina Appleton, who is in her final year studying web design, was part of the team working on the Thornbury project.

She worked alongside Rebecca Jenkins, John Fajardo, Mohammed Rahman and Stuart Downie.

She said: “Thornbury in Bloom set us a challenge to revamp their website and grow their Facebook and Twitter following in a way that would appeal to younger people.

“We set up a WordPress site and redesigned the appearance to make more of their content.”

The team also developed a map showing the route of the TiB planting to help the judges find their way around.

Mr Rawlinson said he was delighted with the work they had done.

“The student team was fantastically professional in their approach and have helped us to develop a new website that is easy for us to use, he said. “The team also extended our social media presence, growing our Twitter following from a handful of followers to over 1,500. “We are delighted with the work they have done for us.”