Dedicated volunteers who “go above and beyond” to help improve their communities were honoured for their hard work at an awards ceremony last night.
Fenland’s numerous Street Pride, In Bloom and Friends groups were recognised for their tireless efforts to improve the district’s street scene and open spaces at Fenland District Council’s annual Celebration Evening.
120 volunteers attended the March Braza Club, with awards given for best nature, partnership, street scene, youth and promotional project presented along with best clean-up.
In the last six months, there were more than 100 events planned by the groups to improve local areas.
This year also saw two new Street Pride groups formed - in Doddington and Elm, taking the total number to 14, and Street Pride groups in Whittlesey, Chatteris and Parson Drove celebrated their tenth anniversary. Wisbech In Bloom also scooped its tenth consecutive gold award in the Anglia in Bloom competition.
Councillor Peter Murphy, the council’s portfolio holder for the environment, presented the awards with Rebecca Robinett, who is the council’s Street Pride coordinator. He also presented a £500 start-up grant to the new Street Pride group in Doddington, and £500 is to be donated to the new group in Elm.
The winners were:
• Best Nature Project
Friends of Rings End Nature Reserve; for a Tesco Bags of Help-funded project with wildlife charity Froglife, creating new habitats, amphibian walks and running workshops
• Best Partnership Project
Whittlesey Street Pride; for work with the Round Table and Lions to install three new benches around the town
Highly commended – Doddington Street Pride; for promotional stalls at Doddington Carnival and the local Horticultural Society show, where new members were recruited
• Best Street Scene Project
March Street Pride/In Bloom; for transforming a run-down piece of land opposite the West End DIY store into an eye-catching feature, with raised flower beds and a plough in homage to the area’s farming heritage.
Highly commended – Friends of March Railway Station; for transforming an area of wasteland at the railway station into a memorial garden
•Best Youth Project
Joint winners:
Wisbech In Bloom, Waterlees in Bloom/Street Pride; for their work with Orchard Primary School
Friends of Wisbech General Cemetery; for an Armistice Day commemoration ceremony involving pupils from St Peter’s Junior School
• Best Promotional Project (a new category for this year)
Joint winners:
Benwick In Bloom/Street Pride; for installing a photo montage in the village bus shelter and organising the first ever Benwick Exhibition in May
Chatteris In Bloom/Street Pride; for its creative remembrance project, The Fallen, which featured hand-knitted poppies cascading from the beacon in the church grounds.
• Best Clean Up
Wisbech Street Pride; for organising a litter pick with staff from Tesco as part of Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean campaign in March
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