During the past few months we have obviously been unable to carry our our normal volunteering activities

This morning it felt like we were returning to some sort of “normality” with our first volunteer task

We assisted Fylde Borough Council Gardeners in tidying up the beds in the Square which had become littered with fallen Cordilyne fronds

The weather wasn’t the best but Liz, Anette, Fiona Christine and Fiona braved the elements and managed to fill a lot of bags and make the look a bit tidier in readiness for Saturday’s STEP business event

The event is to encourage footfall in the Town Centre a variety of entertainment during the day once the mayor has opened proceedings at 11.00

We have a stall in one of the blue domes so please come and find us and grab a bargain in our sale of donated plants

As we are unable to have “official” In Bloom competitions this year just for fun and with your input we going to have a virtual display of the gardens in St Annes.

No prizes but hopefully some great colourful and interesting pictures for us all to see.

There are several categories which we hope will encourage you to enter whether you have a huge and well established garden or a window box and anything in between.

Front Garden
Back Garden
Vegetable patch – show us how you are growing your own
A small corner of my garden – maybe most of your garden is a “work in progress” but you have a part of it you would like to share with us
Children’s Corner – share what your children have been doing in the garden – anything from bug hotels to sunflowers
My favourite flower – a chance to share your prize blooms

Here are a couple of images we have received so far:

The RHS are issuing newsletters to keep us all updated on the latest initiatives and  virtual events.

You can sign up to receive these Blooming Brilliant Newsletters by visiting the RHS website or the Britain in Bloom Facebook Page

https://www.rhs.org.uk/

This wonderful tribute to key workers in Hunstanton: https://tinyurl.com/BloomingBrilliant2

We have been informed this week and It has come as no surprise, that Britain in Bloom has been suspended this year. There will be no In Bloom or In Your Neighbourhood competitions this summer.
In these uncertain times our committee has been discussing whether we can continue to provide floral displays this summer. It is with regret that we have decided that this will not be possible to do safely and we will suspend all St Annes in Bloom outdoor activities to comply with instructions to Stay At Home.

The collection of Christmas trees gets under way this weekend (11/12 January)

Trinity Hospice are once again collecting the trees and several St Annes in Bloom volunteers are assisting with driving the trailer and stacking trees

If you have missed out on having your tree collected please visit the Fylde Borough Council Website for full details of drop-off points so your tree can still go to the dunes project

Recycling at Christmas

Tree planting in the dunes will commence soon and if you would like to volunteer to help please see details in the poster

Despite the sometimes rough, windy and wet weather work has continued on our allotment.

As soon as conditions allow our volunteers have been busy levelling the site and erecting the  poly tunnel.

This work is now almost complete and we are hoping to start off some bedding plants and other species to help us with our planting schemes in the spring

Our thank you event at the United Reformed Church Hall  was well attended and gave us the opportunity to thank all our supporters, sponsors and volunteers and to share our success winning Gold in North West In Bloom

Certificates were presented to businesses taking part in our Colourful Welcome Awards. North West in Bloom “In Your Neighbourhood Awards” were also celebrated with awards being presented to those unable to attend the Awards Ceremony in Southport

Poplar Court residents receiving their North west In Bloom Award for Best Care Home from St Annes Town Mayor Viv Willder

The Colourful Welcome was bigger tha ever with a record number of entries. The judging system was also different this year and rather than winners in each category all entries were judged and awards made in line with the RHS System of Bronze, Silver, Silver-Gilt and Gold.  Congratulations to all the entrants for superb displays around St Annes this Summer.

Those businesses not able to attend on the evening will have certificates delivered to them during the next week or so.

Guest House and Bed and Breakfast;   Ad Asta, The Gaydon, Claremont, Howarth House, Hollingworth, Strathmore, Seacroft, The Fairmail, The Breverton

Hotel: Monterray Beach, The Bedford, Glendower, Inn on the Prom, St Ives Hotel, The Dalmeny

Public House: St Annes Cricket Club, The Victoria, The Town House, The Links, Lord Derby

Restaurant or Cafe: Vanilla, Wigglesworth Cafe, Moments, Greek Flame Taverna, Antons, St Annes Fish Restaurant

Retail and Service Premises: Whitehead and Daughter, Something Brewing, Croppers Barbers, Bonney Fabrics, DR Designs, Parcroft Medical Practice, St Annes Music Shop, Mark F. H. Rae, Pre-Loved Sofas

Thank you to everyone who took part and we hope to see you all again next year!

St Anne’s On The Sea In Bloom received Gold at the RHS North West In Bloom Awards for 2019. This is the fourth year in a row that Gold has been awarded to the town. The In Bloom group also were jointly awarded Best Large Coastal Town Category alongside Southport.

“I am extremely happy with the result” said Fiona Boismaison, Chair of St Anne’s In Bloom. “I know how hard our volunteers have worked over the year, and also the amazing contribution made by the local councils and community groups. It’s great to have all the hard work recognised by the RHS. It is unusual for both towns to be given the top spot. Clearly, the judges couldn’t decide between us”.

The judges also gave the level of “Outstanding” to the Friends of St Anne’s Station and they also won the award for the Best Railway Station in the North West.

“It’s really important that our town creates a lovely welcome to those arriving by train to the town and the Friends have done just that. They have thought about sustainable planting as well as looking after wildlife too.”

‘Outstanding’ was given to both Shepherd Rd Allotment and Blundell Road Allotment and also Poplar Court Residential Home.

Poplar Court also won their category of Best Residential Home in the North West In Bloom entries.  “I know that the Poplar Court residents really care about their surroundings especially as it helps with their well- being and sense of achievement. I always enjoy my visits to the home because I find their enthusiasm for their gardens uplifting”.

The award of “Advancing” was given to St George’s Court Residents who haven’t been in the competition before.

“They have created a beautiful roof garden above Aldi in challenging conditions. Most people say ‘Wow’ when they walk into it”.

“It is really important that praise is given to Tony Barrow and the residents of Braxfield Court too. They have not only won Gold but also their category of Best Large Accommodation for the tenth year. Tony has suggested that it is the last time they will be part of the competition and I’m so pleased they are finishing on a high.

Residents and visitors alike love the garden at Braxfield Court noticing the extremely high standard of gardening that goes on there. Well done Tony and the residents. The award is highly deserved”.

“Residents will not be surprised to learn that Ashton Gardens won Gold in the Small Parks Award and also won their category.

The people who work there have so much to do and I know they honestly care about achieving a high standard in their duties. Adults with learning difficulties from One Fylde also provide volunteering help at the gardens which benefits the staff”

St Annes in Bloom have recently taken over an allotment at Shepherd Road. This is really exciting for us as it means we have more space to work and will be very beneficial as we develop new projects for the future.

In addition to giving us a base to work from it will also enable us to store the trailer safely and under cover.

Whist we cannot have a permanant structure we can, subject to approval, use a temporary cover.

There will also be space for a polytunnel which should enable us to raise our own seeds, cuttings and plants.

The rainwater run off from the polytunnel can be harvested and stored for use on site or for watering planters elsewhere.

The allotment will give our volunteers somewhere under cover to work and provide a meeting point for our working parties throughout the year.

Creating our own compost bins will make our work more sustainable and hopefully reduce our need to ‘buy in’supplies in the future.

The plot does require quite a lot of ground work and a start has already been made in clearing up  and preparing it before the winter sets in.

There are a couple of soft fruit trees and the option to create some raised beds for future use, we have a supply of wood on site which we will re-use for building the beds.

So watch this space and our Facebook page for future updates about the ongoing works.

We welcomed the RHS Judges to St Annes on Tuesday to tour the town and mark all the various projects we have been involved in during the year

It was an early start with the Love My Beach team being first on the list follwed by the Dunes project and on to the Peace and Happiness Garden

At Braxfield Court they are aiming for a tenth successive Gold this year in the Residential category so Tony and the residents have pulled out all the stops again to provide a wonderful display of colour in the gardens

Ashton Gardens was next on the agenda and the judges spoke with FBC staff and volunteers from the Ormerod Trust (Now renamed First Fylde) about their work in the gardens. Members of SOAG were also on hand to discuss the history and heritage of the gardens

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Visits to St George’s Court and Poplar Court Gardens and to St Annes Station followed as these are all entered into their respective categories to be judged

Blundell Road Allotments provided an opportunity for the judges to speak to the town lenghtsman about improvements made during the year

Shepherd Road Allotments very kindly offered use of their excellent facilities for a lunch stop so following a tour of the allotments there was an opportunity to relax for a while and enjoy the sunshine. The judges were very intersted to speak with all our volunteers and hear about why they volunteer and how we had dealt with the recent set backs.

 Soon it was time to move on and see the display of golf bags near Royal Lytham and St Annes Golf Club and a visit to Shepherd Lodge Nursery Allotment

The tour ended with a visit to Splash! on the promenade along with Friends of Promenade Gardens

A more leisurely stroll along the promenade brought the judges visit to a close and we could all breathe a sigh of relief in the hope it had all gone well

Without our regular volunteers and supporters none of this would be possible so we owe a thank you to each and every one of you who have helped in any way to support our work this year

We won’t know the results until October so it is quite a long wait now but we have plenty of things ongoing to keep us busy until then

St Annes in Bloom Committee 2019 pictured with RHS judges Rus Baguley and Maxine Lord