Oldham flourishes in North West in Bloom awards

Oldham flourishes in North West in Bloom Awards

Oldham won the Best City prize at the Royal Horticultural Society’s North West in Bloom competition.

Oldham also won the Best Feature in a Public Place Award for the WOW bed and gold in Best Town Centre Awards – the highest that can be achieved in the category.

Oldham Council’s Head of Environmental Services, Glenn Dale, was also awarded the Outstanding Contribution Award for his work on the campaign.

The awards took place at a ceremony held in Southport on Friday 3 November that was attended by community gardeners from across the region.

This is now the eighth year in a row the borough’s entry, Bloom and Grow, has stolen the show and travelled back home with the trophy.

Councillor Barbara Brownridge, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Cooperatives, said: “To win Best City for eight years in a row is a truly outstanding achievement and a real honour for our borough.

“The displays from our Environmental Team, as ever, have impressed the public and the RHS judges.

“Our Bloom and Grow campaign is a real team effort and it wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work of our dedicated residents, schools, communities and businesses.

“I’d like to thank everyone for doing their bit coming together and helping secure this brilliant victory.

“A lot of people show pride in our borough so let us make sure that it is reflected by how we make it look in the future."

The theme for this year’s campaign was ‘Greening Grey Britain’ – which focussed on conservation and wildlife, encouraging residents to grow plants in towns and cities where ever possible.

The WOW bed centrepiece display in the town centre features a ‘Bug Hotel’ complete with oversized bugs and a reception area, welcoming people to the town.

Its animated design brings a bit of fun to the town centre intended to attract the interest of residents, especially children, and maybe even wildlife.

To show the display was not just for summer it’s currently in a transitional stage to mark Halloween and will transform again into a Christmas wonderland to celebrate our Christmas events programme.

The centrepiece will be reused elsewhere in the town, as previous WOW beds have been.

This year’s judging route took in community groups, businesses and volunteers at Lydgate, Uppermill, Dobcross, Austerlands, Waterhead, Mumps, Alexandra Park, Gallery Oldham, Union Street, St Mary’s Church, Spindles Town Square Shopping Centre, Curzon Street, Albion Street, Henshaw Street, George Square and the High Street, before completing the tour at Parliament Square and the Odeon Cinema.