Since 2013, the dedicated volunteers of Melksham Bloomers have been preparing our town for its entry into South West in Bloom, which is a regional competition that forms part of the RHS Britain in Bloom initiative. The competition encourages communities to participate in brightening their streets through planting trees, shrubs or flowers, setting up environmental responsibility projects and ensuring areas are kept clear of litter and graffiti. At the heart of Melksham’s six certificates achieved in this years awards, the Melksham Bloomers have led the effort in entering and preparing Melksham for the South West competition.
Their commitment to environmental responsibility, which is achieved through composting, anti-littering and sustainable planting, reflects the pride of our local community as we all work together to make Melksham bloom! Melksham Town Council congratulates Terri Welch, Ruth Watkins and their entire team of volunteers for their hard work and passion which has gone into achieving this great award.
Six Certificates Collected for Melksham at Britain in Bloom’s IYN
It’s Your Neighbourhood (IYN) is a key part of the South West in Bloom event, designed for volunteer led community gardening groups to show the benefits that community gardening can bring. Within the award, Conigre Mead Nature Reserve, The Prince of Wales Garden and Community Larder were ranked as ‘outstanding’, recognising the Melksham Community Larder as an invaluable organisation within our local area. Volunteers work to re-distribute excess food at The Roundhouse in Church Street to support people in need and reduce waste. Receiving the highest award possible at Britain in Bloom, the community-led initiative was graded level 5, highlighting the efforts of the programme in flourishing our neighbourhood.
Church Walk, The Friends Garden and Town Centre & Flags were additionally awarded as ‘thriving’, while Canon Square & War Memorial were mentioned as ‘advancing’, showcasing Melksham’s wealth of special places and community spirit.
Alongside these outstanding awards, during the judges visit, The Market Tavern was named best decorated pub in the South West, closely followed by The Bear.
We spoke with the team at the Market Tavern where Stephen Fowler, Market Tavern Landlord, said “We would like to give a heartfelt thanks to Miriam Zaccarelli and Terri Welch for their ongoing support throughout the South West in Bloom Awards. Thank you to our staff for working tirelessly throughout the summer to ensure the pub’s flowers were kept fed and watered. We are shocked to have not only won an award, but to have won gold for the whole of the south west. It was amazing to see the response of the local Melksham community at the awards. We would also like to congratulate The Bear for coming in a respectable second place.”
We are incredibly proud to have businesses adding colour and charm to our town centre with their beautiful floral fronts. Having not entered the competition, we are delighted to see that the impact of businesses collaboration in making Melksham bloom was formally recognised by their well deserved awards. It highlights the impact of our community in coming together, and we encourage all businesses and residents to help keep our town looking its best.
Gabe Elliott, General Manager of The Bear also commented on the achievement saying, “We are pleased to have been recognised by the judges from South West in Bloom in helping keep Melksham high street look beautiful. We are happy to contribute to the community in improving the look of the high street by planting The Bear full of seasonal flowers and keeping our garden looking nice for our customers.”
