A special ceremony has been held to honour North Tyneside’s green-fingered residents.
Winners and runners up from the council’s annual gardening competition, North Tyneside in Bloom, were invited to an award ceremony celebrating their success.
Judged throughout July and August, the variety included in the categories, ranging from ‘Conservation and wildlife’, to ‘Best use of outdoor space’, helps ensure that North Tyneside in Bloom is suited to budding gardeners of all ages and abilities.
And from whole community efforts to individual residents, schools to businesses and large gardens to hanging baskets, this year’s competition attracted over 80 entries across the categories.
Cllr John Stirling, cabinet member with responsibility for the Environment, said: “I’d like to say a big thank you and congratulations to everyone who entered the North Tyneside in Bloom competition this year.
“North Tyneside’s residents have always been incredibly passionate about maintaining the borough as a beautiful place to live, work and visit, so it’s fantastic that we can honour their efforts with this competition.”
For the first time in this year’s competition, there was a brand new ‘Love Your Street’ category, which recognises residents in a street or community who come together to make sure the area in which they live is kept tidy and looking beautiful.
The winner in this new category was Whitley Bay-based community group the Friends of the Red House Ramble, after judges recognised the amount of effort that had gone into maintaining and improving their local area for people of all ages.
And there was continued success for Lee Kirkbride, who claimed first prize in the ‘Individual Allotment’ category for the sixth year in a row.
With support from the Wyevale Garden Centre, who sponsored prizes to the winners in each category, the competition was able to reward people for helping the borough blossom and enhance its reputation as a scenic location.