WITH one day to go until Halesowen in Bloom welcomes judges from the national ‘Britain in Bloom’ to the town, local organisers are in confident mood.
Halesowen are one of 76 community gardening groups preparing to battle it out in the final of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) competition – the furthest the town has ever reached.
Assessors from RHS will be visiting Halesowen tomorrow (Thursday, August 2) where they will judge the town across a range of criteria that includes horticultural know-how, community engagement, efforts to bolster biodiversity and climate change adaptation.
Eve O’Connor, Halesowen in Bloom chairman, said: “We are all really looking forward to welcoming the judges.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for Halesowen, as we are the first in the borough to reach this stage of the competition.
“But because we’ve never got this far before, we just don’t know what to expect. We know the judges will be stricter than in the regional stages, so we’ll just try our best.
“However, everyone has worked incredibly hard to help showcase our community and get the town as ready as it can be.
“I’m very proud of each and every person who has contributed.”
After giving a presentation to the judges at St John’s Church tomorrow morning, Eve will lead the judges on a whistle-stop tour of the town, where they will meet all the community groups who have played a part in Halesowen’s bid for bloom glory.
One of the local businesses which is once again part of the campaign is Quantry Lane-based Brookfield Nurseries which has provided the Halesowen in Bloom hanging baskets for the past three years.
Eve said: “The flowers are funded by sponsorship and grants, with all money raised by the volunteers, before a tender goes out for businesses to bid for it.
“Brookfield Nurseries have been providing the baskets for the last few years now and we are really happy with the job they do.
“The baskets are always absolutely beautiful. Single photographs never do them justice.”
Paul Hill (pictured below with wife Joanne), owner of Brookfield Nurseries, said: “This is the third year we have provided the hanging baskets and in our first two years we helped Halesowen win gold medals, so fingers crossed we can make it a hat-trick.”
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