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[ Key
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celebrations ] [Pictures ] [ Guestbook ]
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[ Key
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The original two day ‘ground force’ spectacular took place on the 5th and 6th July 2004 when thousands of volunteers took part in a range of activities to make the villages of Horden and Easington Colliery a brighter and tidier place to live and work. Volunteers worked together to add a real burst of colour to the streets by distributing 5,000 hanging baskets and tubs, planting new bedding areas and trees, picking up litter and turning wasteland into new community garden areas. The volunteers included local residents, teams from partner organisations, local companies, colleges and schools. The days of major community action have been repeated over 2005, 2006 and 2007 in the village of Horden, which has successfully entered Northumbria in Bloom over these years too, a first in almost 40 years. The judges have been invited to view our achievements and have been duly impressed with the community spirit in the village and the amount support the campaign has achieved. The work of the volunteers has continuously exceeded all expectations, with some excellent results year in year out. Great Results in the Northumbria in Bloom 2007 competition. Awards in previous years Northumbria in Bloom competition have included runner up in Best Voluntary Project category for Bloomin' Marvellous, Horden Cemetery won the ISD Floral Architect Award, and Samantha Shippen, Horden parish council clerk, was given an award of merit for her outstanding contribution to the village. The Bloomin’ Marvellous campaign was initially developed when Easington Action Team for Jobs were looking for ways to improve the overall environment of Horden and Easington Colliery. Although there are some areas of attractive gardens and public spaces, many more were drab, run down or neglected. The consequence of this and other factors are many including a general lack of aspirations in the area, poor health and low employment. Kate Welch, who was the manager of the Action Team for Jobs during the first Bloomin' Marvellous, said: “The environment we live in has a profound effect on the way we feel and many areas in the villages were run down and neglected. Bloomin’ Marvellous has improved the look of the villages, raised the morale of the community by direct involvement and by the improved look of the area and most importantly it has created jobs.” As well as creating jobs, it is hoped that the project will lead to greater take up of employment in the future. A community nursery has also been created and will continue to be run as a community enterprise to help maintain the work that has taken place in the villages for the sustaining of the transformation. The last four years has seen the original project go from strength to strength, and the number of organisations involved has snowballed. Horden Parish Council are the major driving force behind the project and work in close partnership with several integral community organisations including Acumen Community Enterprise Development Trust (Acumen Trust), One2One Learning, Aim High Network, Informnorth as well as other local businesses, schools and colleges. Download a short film about Bloomin'
Marvellous. 15.3 MB
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