Well no-one was quite expecting the last year or so to be what it has been! St Annes in Bloom may not have been as visible over that time but we have certainly been busy “behind the scenes” with lots of preparations for the future.

We have been fortunate to receive continued support from St Annes Town Council and Fylde Borough Council which has certainly helped us to keep going and we are very grateful for this support.

Work on our allotment has continued and we now have a functioning space we can use as a base for our activities. We have produced most of our own plants either from cuttings or seeds and this has helped us in our aim to be fully sustainable and also very satisfying as we see things coming to fruition.

We have put out lots of these planters around town and local businesses have taken on the task of caring for them and watering which has helped to reduce to load on our volunteers. Due to the restrictions we have been working with our volunteers have been limited not only in numbers but also in what activities could be carried out safely.

Watering has always posed a mammoth task and especially during the hot weather in June and July we have been helped immensely by business owners taking on some responsibility for this.

We have taken on some new areas along the promenade and a new gardening group has started work on Thursday afternoons. Along with the Friday group in the Peace and Happiness Garden this has meant we can work safely in small groups and still achieve good results.

The area beside the Train Café on the promenade has been transformed with the placement of extra tubs and additions to the planting in the large (previously neglected ) large planters.

The area beside the Toby sign has been cleared of bindweed – a back breaking but very worthwhile job – and planted up with a selection of wind and drought tolerant plants. The owners of the train café have kindly let us use their water supply to keep the area watered when necessary and also provided us with some refreshments. The management of the Toby Carvery have also been very generous in supplying us with refreshments as a thank-you for completing the work in this area.

It is very satisfying to see previously drab areas transformed with colour and if you would like to join us as a volunteer to help with this you will be most welcome. Just get in touch either via our contacts on this page or our Facebook page for more details.

In September we took part in the St Annes Town Council September Spectacular in Ashton Gardens. This was our first “public” event for some time and it was a great opportunity to meet lots of local people, visitors and friends to show some of our projects and have some fun with “roll a penny” and a photo opportunity. We also held a plant sale on the Sunday which helped us to raise some funds.

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook to keep up to date with all our activities and future events

In this past year of changes and cancellations we are getting used to things not going to plan.

Unfortunately this year’s annual Christmas tree planting event is no different. In the interest of safety it has been decided that the event will not go ahead with volunteers in any capacity due to the risk of Covid-19 transmission.

Fear not though the work will continue. This year has seen a record number of trees collected this year, 2500+, which is in fact more than in any of the past 9 years the Christmas tree planting project started. It is essential that these trees are buried to catch the sand blowing in from the strong onshore winds we have been having recently. Therefore, a small operational team from Fylde Council will be out there working hard and in the safest manner possible to ensure these trees go in to provide added coastal protection for our fantastic community.

With more trees, and significantly less helping hands, it will take some time for the team to work their way through burying the trees, so please be patient. If you are out walking on the beach for your daily exercise, please give us a wave!

Fylde Sand Dunes project will of course be posting pictures and regular updates on their social media channels so you can all stay involved and feel a part of the team once more! As volunteer participation cannot take place this year, please could we ask you all to support the project in a different way, from the comfort of your home. Fylde Sand Dunes Project has a strong social media presence so please follow us and share their posts to keep up to date with what is happening. You can help to spread the word that this year although community engagement is restricted there is still work ongoing to protect the dunes and coastal environment.

We would like to thank all of our volunteers for your continued support in this uncertain time and hope that you understand the decision and we sincerely hope the event will be able to take place in Jan/Feb 2022.

Please follow Fylde Sand Dunes Project the project on Facebook and Twitter to receive updates

https://www.facebook.com/FyldeSandDunes

We have been understandably quiet during 2020 as our volunteers have been unable to work whilst government restrictions limit how we can work together.

We have been busy behind the scenes planning for 2021 and hope to be back bigger and brighter than ever soon.

We have been busy on our allotment organising the plot and raising some of our own plants in readiness for the new season.

A small group of volunteers have planted up a few winter tubs and troughs to be placed around town and we are doing our best to keep up with weeding and general care.

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!