Farnham Wins Silver Gilt

 

Farnham in Bloom’s entry into the South and South East in Bloom Competition has been rewarded with a  silver gilt certificate. John Durham has won the extremely prestigious Regional Chairman’s award for his Hone’s Yard in Downing Street. The Middle Bourne Community Wildlife Garden was awarded a silver gilt in the Recreation/Small Park category, recognising the work of the Bourne Conservation Group and local residents, in partnership with Farnham Town Council.

These prestigious prizes have been awarded by South and South East in Bloom for Farnham’s entry in the ‘Town Centre’ category and for the  MCWG’s entry at a regional ceremony held in Brighton on 2 September 2009.

The judges said "A well run and organised team of people have put in another tremendous effort. The presentation, portfolio and other information being of a high standard."

The Town Centre’s floral displays, its cleanliness, community involvement and local sponsors came under the spotlight when judges from the Southern Water sponsored South and South East in Bloom 2009 competition visited Farnham on 6th July.
More than 300 entries were judged this year ranging from small villages to large cities across Surrey, Sussex,  Kent and Hampshire.
Farnham was up against stiff competition from the town centres of Redhill, Banstead, Gravesend, Horley, Crawley and Reigate. Crawley was awarded a gold and was the category winner

There were also individual Certificates of Excellence and these were awarded to:

The residents of Homepark House
Farnham Public Swimming Baths Trust for Victoria Gardens
Kents Property Services  for Clockhouse/Eastgate/Acorns Gardens
Waverley Borough Council for Gostrey Meadow
Farnham Town Council for Library Gardens
Wolfe Property Services for Lion and Lamb Yard
Mr and Mrs Gilbert for 10 Castle Street
The residents of Mountbatten Lodge Garden
Farnham United Reformed Church
The Hop Blossom Public House
Classical Floral Designs Borelli’s Yard
Borelli’s Wine Bar, Borelli’s Yard

The Mayor of Farnham, Cllr Lucinda Fleming said, "I would like to congratulate everyone who has contributed in some way to Farnham in Bloom and made this success possible. Thank you so much to Councillors, officers, partners, sponsors and local residents, who all deserve this recognition. The splendid effort by John Durham for Hone’s Yard, the Middle Bourne Community Wildlife Garden partners and all the Certificate of Excellence winners is to be commended. I look forward to presenting their awards at a presentation evening."

Chairman of the Farnham in Bloom Working Group, Cllr Jill Hargreaves said,  "I wholeheartedly support the Mayor’s thanks and congratulations to everyone concerned. I am delighted that Farnham has done so well and we look forward to planning the 2010 campaign and winning gold!
We hope to attract more local groups, a corporate sponsor and more individual sponsors to help us do this.
There are real benefits to supporting the town’s efforts including the attraction of more visitors, a brighter cleaner environment, publicity through the sponsors’ board in South Street, links to sponsors’ websites and inclusion in all Farnham in Bloom correspondence and press releases."

Anyone interested or with ideas for summer 2010 are most welcome to contact Sheila Rayner at Farnham Town Council on 01252 712667 or email sheila.rayner@farnham.gov.uk’