With spring bursting out all over and a fabulous display of crocuses in many areas of the village, particularly The Green and Burton Road. It's time to get our gloves on and galvanise some action to keep our Parish looking great - and help our pollinators, and wildlife to thrive with our lovely River of Flowers.
The Parish Council and WFEG are joining forces again to enter the 2025 Heart of England In Bloom (HoEIB) competition. We are determined to win our sixth successive gold award and also to maintain the status we achieved last year as the Best Large Village in the Heart of England Region.
Quite a few groups of people play a big role in this - among them are the volunteers who look after the Main Street troughs, the Whittington Woodland team, the autumn bulb planters, the canal working party team, the Swan Meadow team, not to forget the Jubilee Brownie Garden folks and the outstanding Bridge Garden team.
It all adds up to a great deal of effort, but none of us is getting any younger and we definitely need more volunteers to keep up the momentum. So please do keep a close look out for information on working parties on any of the aforementioned and come along if you can.
There are more areas of the parish that could be planted up, so if you feel like adopting a patch near you, do let us know. We are only too willing to help and advise and may be able to provide small amounts of funding or point you in the right direction. We would do all this anyway of course, because it looks great and supports our wildlife - but it's very nice to get recognition for all the hard work.
As well as the Heart of England in Bloom entry this year, the Parish Council has decided to put our community forward for the Best Kept Village (BKV) Competition, something that we won about 15 years ago, but haven't entered in more recent times for various reasons.
The HoEIB success provides a solid foundation for this competition, but BKV has a wider scope and assesses the community spirit among residents as well as general maintenance and appearance. Factors considered include year-round events, clubs, community cohesion, and inclusivity - all areas where the parish has fantastic strengths. The BKV competition is Staffordshire wide, whereas HoEIB is regional.
Both competitions involve visits from judges, probably Best Kept Village in June and Heart of England In Bloom in July. Dates will be publicised closer to the time. So please keep an eye out for these and help to make sure that the village looks clean and beautiful on the dates in question. We are so lucky to live in such a great community and these competitions give us a marvellous opportunity to tell the world just how much brilliant collective effort goes into maintaining our community spirit and looking after our environment.
For more information or to offer assistance, you can contact:
Heart of England in Bloom: Mike Kinghan at mike.kinghan1@gmail.com
Best Kept Village: Robert Pass at robert.pass@fortressrecycling.com
General Enquiries: David Walton at davidjfwalton@aol.com
