Neighbourhood Bloom enthusiasts and schoolchildren have celebrated success in brightening up their area through gardening.
Awards have been presented to 51 groups from Nottingham who participated in ‘It’s Your Neighbourhood’, which is part of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Britain in Bloom campaign. The IYN groups work hard to improve their own patch of the city, including streets, sheltered housing complexes, community gardens, churches and hospitals.
This year’s Nottingham awards were sponsored by Capital One, which hosted the presentation ceremony at its Station Street headquarters. The company’s Community Relations Manager, Dave Richards, presented each group with a £20 voucher for Woodthorpe Park Plant Shop.
Two groups were also surprised with special awards.
- St Leo’s Church at Basford has been nominated for a Royal Horticultural Society National Certificate of Distinction for consistently outstanding work by the garden team over several years.
- Hollies Day Nurseries received the East Midlands in Bloom ‘Most Inspiring IYN’ award, sponsored by DART.
Certificates and plant shop vouchers were also presented to two Nottingham schools who won Nottingham in Bloom awards sponsored by Fast Graphics:
- Best School Grounds –. Stanstead Primary School, Rise Park.
- Best Scarecrow –.Melbury Primary School, Bilborough – for a Torvill and Dean tribute.
Councillor Malcolm Wood, Chair of the Nottingham in Bloom Working Group, said: “The IYN awards and the school garden competition both acknowledge and celebrate the hard work and dedication of the many groups who are improving their neighbourhood or their school.
“The annual presentation event provides an excellent forum for people to share ideas and gain inspiration. Community gardening transforms the environment and can also transform lives – whether by improving physical and mental health, giving valuable work experience or by helping new friendships to blossom. We want to congratulate everyone on their success and thank them for their tremendous efforts.”
Nottingham is at the forefront of the RHS ‘It’s Your Neighbourhood’ initiative nationally and has also developed volunteering opportunities for assessors. This year about 20 Nottingham City Council staff and members of established IYN groups stepped up to be assessors, giving them an opportunity to share their experience and knowledge.