Have you thought about entering your community or neighbourhood into Cumbria in Bloom’s brand new design categories – newly launched for 2008, sponsored by Cumbria County Council.
By submitting your designs you and your community could win £100 worth of plants, bulbs and seeds to be used towards bringing your designs to life!
Designs need to be submitted by 30 September 2008. Your ideas can be presented any way you wish, including drawings, paintings, artwork, digital designs, or anything that inspires you to be creative and allows the judges to visualise your ideas.
So, you might think Cumbria in Bloom is just for pretty villages in the Lakes, but you couldn't be further from the truth. The new categories welcome entries from everyone and every type of community - young, old, rural, urban, businesses, schools or residential homes. The awards are all about getting people working together to make their neighbourhood a nicer place to live and work. And it doesn't even have to be a garden; it could be window boxes, pots and tubs, whatever and wherever you can fit in some plants! The awards really are a great way to benefit the whole of your community.
There will be 3 winners in each of the following categories, each will receive £100 towards plants, bulbs and seeds for their design entry in the following:
Best Business Premises – Do you have an attractive office or business premises, or an area of land on your business site to create a beautiful garden feature? Send in your designs and show off how spectacular your business premises are!
Best Vegetable, allotment or garden plot – Do you think your vegetable or garden plot has the potential of being the best in Cumbria? If so, we want to see your designs.
Most innovative way to grow flowers/vegetables – Time to get creative…we’re looking for the most unique and imaginative design for growing flowers or vegetables – so if you’re thinking of growing flowers in an old boot or vegetables in tubs, we want to hear from youBest small garden - urban and rural – Do you think you have the best small garden in Cumbria? If you think yours is a winner, we want to know about it.
Best community/street gardening – Also known as the Neighbourhood Award, bring together friends and neighbours within your community and get involved in a good bit of community spirit by showing off just how good your community/street garden designs are.
Best hanging basket/container/window box – Do your window and door floral decorations turn heads? If so use this opportunity to get them truly recognised! Send us your designs for next and see if you can get some free plants.
Special Category - The Wordsworth Award - There is one flower that really defines Cumbria; the Daffodil. For this award we're looking for designs that incorporate Daffodils and wild flowers to best effect.
Schools - one school in each of the districts will win a prize. Does your schools or your child’s school have a playground with potential? You could send us your designs as a class project and have the chance to give your school grounds new life!
Residential Homes – For this category, judges are looking for interesting designs showing a good garden layout that allows easy access for residents to use.
Previous competition winner Chris Carss, Managing Director of Rothay Garden Hotel in Grasmere has stated how the competition has improved business for the hotel. “As a previous winner of the Cumbria in Bloom Award, we’ve found that many of our guests are drawn to the hotel because of its accolades – and the public nationally have a great recognition of the “In Bloom” awards. As a business which promotes the surrounding environment and our two acres of gardens as much as our interior facilities, we place great importance on this award. Of course, it also directly complements the name of the hotel, so we’ll definitely be entering the Cumbria in Bloom Award again in the future.”
To find out more about the categories visit www.cumbria-in-bloom.org.uk (external link)
Closing date for designs is 30th September 2008, and designs will be judged in October. All designs need to be submitted to Jane Cairns, Cumbria County Council, The Courts, Carlisle CA3 8NA or email jane.cairns@cumbriacc.gov.uk
We look forward to receiving your entries. Good luck!