• Be social

South West in Bloom Awards Success for Falmouth

Cllr Paul Myers Midsummer Norton Mayor, Cllr John Body Town Mayor of Falmouth, Jon Wheatley Royal Horticultural Society

Simon Penna, Grounds & Facilities Manager for Falmouth Town Council reported “Falmouth had a very successful day at the SWIB awards in Dartmouth on Thursday 24th, we managed to achieve RHS Gold medal standard and if that wasn't pleasing enough Falmouth were also awarded the highest level of recognition in winning the "Champion of champions" cup; this is a fantastic achievement for the town and one that I'm sure all the partners involved will be really proud to have helped bring about.

In winning the most prestigious cup, we took on the real heavy weights in the competition such as Bath, and hosts Dartmouth and sent them packing, the judges realised we have the highest standards of horticulture in Falmouth thanks to the really excellent gardeners working under Howard Burns in the town's parks & gardens for Cormac Solution ltd, they are simply the best team you can get, however this award also recognises the tireless work Jacqui Owen does with our children and many other organisations in Falmouth and particularly all the community involvement from our active friends groups; the community input is a hugely valuable asset to Falmouth and one which all the judges have remarked upon.

The town was immaculately clean & tidy on the judging days thanks Nigel Rutter's Cory team with our own town council team who all worked really hard getting the streets weed & litter free, benches painted graffiti removed etc etc. Both the FXPlus team from the University and The Beacon Partnership's gardeners gave their time willingly to achieve a level of order for the town that just wouldn't have been possible otherwise.

To top off the day Gyllyngdune gardens also quite rightly received the Abbiss cup in recognition of the outstanding horticulture and annual bedding displays.

The mayor plans to have a presentation in the council chamber very shortly for all 12 of our "It's your neighbourhood" winners, which included recognition for the achievements of our community & school groups.

All in all it was a great team effort and a result I’m sure all Falmouth’s residents will be really pleased with, however success in the “Bloom” initiative for our town Falmouth reaches way beyond a cup to anoint the Council chamber, it is significantly more far reaching in a number of ways that includes:
Providing an enhanced amenity for residents and visitors.
Uniting the community through achievement.
Strong healthier communities with civic pride.
Community involvement, leads to a reduction in anti-social behaviour.
Wider public awareness for Falmouth and what it has to offer.
Increased visitor numbers generated by being a high achieving town.
Improved access to funding opportunities.
Increased inward investment from supporting businesses
Increased bio-diversity and environmental awareness.”

John Body, Town Mayor of Falmouth stated “I’m delighted with Falmouth winning “Champion of Champions,” it’s a just reward for all the hard work of our partner organisations, schools, friends groups and volunteers working with the Council team to make our town the fantastic place it is.”

Viv Bidgood, Highways & Environment Manager for Cormac Solutions ltd said “I’m delighted that the combined efforts of our gardening team and the volunteer, community and school groups they work with have been formally recognised as outstanding by the RHS.”