In Bloom judges praise Boston, awards presented to community efforts

The East Midlands in Bloom competition forms part of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Britain in Bloom campaign.

It aims to encourage the improvement of surroundings through the imaginative use of horticulture, achieve a litter-free and sustainable environment, and bring communities together.

On Tuesday, July 4, judges toured Boston and were shown a range of work carried out by volunteers over the past year to enhance the town, plus ongoing and future projects. These included the planting of 17,000 trees at Dion’s Woods Nature Reserve, off Willoughby Road.

A result will not be known until September, but following his visit judge Richard Stephen said: “It has been a few years since I last came to Boston as a judge and I have certainly seen improvement in some of the areas and a couple of things I haven’t seen before. There is a lot of good work being carried out in the community and everyone’s efforts are being noticed. I have really enjoyed my day and have seen some nice things on our tour.”

Alison Fairman, chairman of Boston in Bloom said: “Boston in Bloom was again delighted to welcome Royal Horticultural Society judges to Boston. Our volunteers always work very hard in all areas in central Boston to help make the town cleaner and greener. It would be wonderful to win Gold again and we look forward to finding out how well we have done in September.”

Alison thanked Boston in Bloom sponsors for helping make some of the group’s projects a reality, as well as Duckworth Jaguar for lending them an electric Jaguar iPace to transport the judges around for the day.

The tour concluded with Richard presenting this year’s Lauberts Environment and Community Award for 2023.

This went to Adrian Isaac, founder of The Boston Woods Trust.

Kathy Dawes, of the Wyberton Wombles, meanwhile was presented with a highly commended certificate for her dedication to the litter-picking group since it formed during the Covid-19 pandemic.