15 July 2011
St Helier and Grouville were the main winners of the local Parish in Bloom competition and will be representing Jersey in the national finals of Britain in Bloom in 2012. 7 parishes were judged and the winners were announced at an awards ceremony held at St Lawrence Parish Hall.
The overall winner of ‘Best Parish’ was the Parish of St Helier, with high points and a Gold Award. The winner of ‘Best Coastal Parish’ was the Parish of Grouville also with a Gold Award. Grouville also won last year’s Best Coastal Parish and have been entered into the 2011 UK finals, to be judged in August.
The seven parishes that entered the competition were:
- St Helier
- St Saviour
- St Ouen
- St Martin
- Grouville
- St Clement
- St Lawrence
Grouville also obtained a Gold award in the 'Best Parish' category, with St Martin receiving a Silver Gilt award, St Ouen, St Lawrence and St Clement gaining Silver awards and St Saviour obtaining a Bronze award. The other category judged was ‘Best Florally Decorated Parish Hall’.
St Clement Parish Hall was the overall winner with a Gold award. Grouville, St Helier, St Saviour and St Lawrence all won Gold awards for their respective Parish Halls with St Martin and St Ouen gaining a Silver Gilt award.
Neighbourhood awards
Neighbourhood Awards were given to small communities and housing developments where new initiatives are being run to improve their local environment. Victoria Cottage Homes (St Saviour) and Queens Road Court (St Helier) came out on top in this category.
The Judges were so impressed with some of the personnel and projects from the individual parishes that they awarded the following discretionary awards:
- Graham Bouchard of St Helier for his hard work and dedication at Queen’s Road Court
- St Ouen’s Parish for their Village Green
- St Martin’s School for their horticultural work with children
- St Clement’s Flower Club for their Flower Festival held in St Clement’s Parish Church as part of the Parish ‘In Bloom’ campaign
The judging took place over 4 days from Monday 11 to Thursday 14 July, by an independent judging panel made up of Britain in Bloom Judges Rae Beckwith and Terry Whitmill. The panel followed strict judging criteria as set down by the Britain in Bloom Organising Committee and included elements such as floral design, permanent landscaping and local environmental quality.
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