According to the judges, St Helier missed out on winning the very top award of Champion of Champions by the ‘slenderest of margins’.
The medals were presented at the weekend to Constables Simon Crowcroft and Mike Jackson by Baroness Floella Benjamin, vice-president of the RHS, at an awards ceremony held in London. The event was attended by over 400 people from across Britain whose towns and cities had taken part in the competition.
Britain in Bloom covers a range of floral and environmental efforts in various different categories.
The judging team are highly qualified gardening and horticultural experts chosen by the RHS for their experience.
They visit each area to inspect and mark each entry to the same formula, dividing their marks into horticultural achievement (40%), environmental responsibility (30%) and community participation
(30%).
St Helier scored 100% from the two UK judges, who visited the island in early August last year.
In their marking report, the judges stated that ‘the parish had engaged with a wide section of the business and voluntary sector to deliver sustainable and lasting improvements to the townscape’.
The judges said that they were impressed by the way the parish, through the St Helier Bloom Group, were engaging with schools and youngsters to ‘bring many of the environmental issues to the forefront of people’s minds’.
They thought that the work being undertaken at the Millennium Town Park, together with the plans for the future extension, showed ‘great foresight in providing quality green spaces in an urban setting’ and they found that the hanging baskets they saw throughout their detailed tour of St Helier ‘were of a very high quality’.
The judges also commented on the work to create the ‘floral corner’ at the Jersey round tower site by the First Tower Community Association, in conjunction with the Probation and After Care Service, and the town centre Bee Fantastic with Plastic display produced by local schools in recycled commercial wheelie bins and using recycled material.
The pop-up allotment at the Town Church, again using recycled wheelie bins, ‘helped to get the grow-your-own message across and demonstrated that you don’t need a large garden to
produce food on a small scale,’ the judges said.
The judges added that ‘St Helier were strong contenders for winning the Champion of Champions award, with a lot of potential for the future.’
Mr Crowcroft was accompanied at the award ceremony by his wife, Angela; Bob Kearsey, parks manager for St Helier Parks and Gardens Department; Michelle Le Cornu, secretary of the St Helier Bloom Group; and Ted Vibert, chairman of the First Tower Community Association.
