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Neighbourhood Awards 2006
This year Caol in Bloom entered the ‘Neighbourhood Awards’ section of Beautiful Scotland in Bloom.
They awarded us with a Certificate of Merit for ‘good all round performance and for showing potential for outstanding achievement in the future’.
 The presentations took place at a seminar in Perth on 8th November. Margaret, Lil and Cathy attended. There was a welcome speech from Provost Scott and a Beautiful Scotland in Bloom judge gave a talk on the judging route and what to expect.
The delegates attended 3 different interactive sessions – Margaret on Biodiversity, Lil on Horticulture and Cathy on Fundraising and the sessions were equally interesting for the delegates:
Biodiversity – Margaret enjoyed an interesting talk on this. What is it? – Life is ever changing and adapting to ecosystems and climate. In Dundee a Biodiversity scheme was set up when some Council workers were sent to clean the beach and they knocked down some sand dunes and accidentally disturbed the newly installed sand martins’ nests. After encountering problems with different departments of the Council – planning, environmental health etc. (a nightmare of bureaucracy) - the workmen got together and built a wooden hinged replacement for the nests. A group was formed and many different types of people were recruited e.g. schools, Duke of Edinburgh Awards, elderly, naturalists.
A wild flower meadow was planted and it is cared for by guides and scouts.
Horticulture – Lil enjoyed this talk by Keith Jackson of Falkland in Bloom who showed how they succeed in the Beautiful Scotland in Bloom campaign. His main subject was hanging baskets and he recommended 18” size with 22 plants in each. He said that there is no need to get expensive plants and he suggested 2 colours per basket e.g. red and pink or purple and white. If the baskets are sited in a windy place plant the top as close as possible. The baskets are watered every day and they use a tractor and trailer with a tank and hose on it. They buy seeds for all their plants and they have a large area and a shed for working in.
Fundraising – Cathy attended this talk by Julia Corden from Pitlochry in Bloom. They organise a busy calendar of fundraising events throughout the year to supplement sponsorship from businesses. Over the past 11 years their most successful fund raiser has been their Easter chickens in baskets which local ladies knit for them in the winter. In that time they raised £11,000 with them. Throughout the year they sell their own postcards. They also have a variety of events e.g. winter lunches, coffee mornings, quiz nights, thrift shops and a St. Andrews night ceilidh. Annually they raise over £20,000 which is spent on enhancing the town and they reckon that they have invested £500,000 in Pitlochry since they started in 1993 by a small group of people – 14 on a regular basis.
There was a nice buffet lunch to follow and then the awards were presented. Margaret collected our certificate.
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