News Town aiming for win in bloom contest
Goole is going for gold with a blooming marvellous display of flora.
The town has been tipped to go one better than last season and strike gold in this spring's Yorkshire in Bloom competition.
Yesterday Goole in Bloom organisers led a tour of the town to show off the various flowers and shrubs that had been planted in the area.
The tour - which started from Guardian Industries on the Rawcliffe Road industrial estate and ended at the clock tower in the town centre - couldn't have come at a better time for the Goole team, who have just discovered they have been awarded a £9,940 grant from the Big Lottery's Awards for All scheme.
The money will be used to improve the town's overall appearance through the planting of shrubs and flowers, and maintaining buildings, for the summer Yorkshire in Bloom competition.
For the spring competition the Goole in Bloom organisers will be putting planters on the two welcome signs at either side of the town.
The improvements will be paid for out of the mayor's charity money.
Guardian Industries, meanwhile, are sponsoring improvements on the roundabout beside the clocktower in time for the summer competiton.
The Goole project is one of seven schemes in the East Riding of Yorkshire - and 87 in the region - sharing grants worth £616,519 in the latest round of the Lottery's Awards for All programme, which was announced this week.
Phil Jones, treasurer of Goole in Bloom, said: "Receiving this grant means we can move the Goole in Bloom initiative onto another level, investing in marketing to raise awareness and interest, as well as buy new tools. At present we have approximately 60 volunteers who keep our town in bloom, but we would love to have 200 and hope the marketing and promotional activity will show locals the value of our actions and what we can achieve."
He added: "Everyone involved was delighted when they found out - receiving this award has enabled us to do things for which we previously had to rely on donations.
"Everything can be done much quicker: we can buy equipment now and raise awareness in time for the spring and summer Yorkshire in Bloom awards. We can even create our own awards. This year we are going to award local people for the best-kept garden or town house as well as licensed premises. Goole in Bloom will ensure it is just that."
Awards for All is the small grants scheme administered by the Big Lottery Fund on behalf of the Lottery's good-cause funders the Arts Council England, Big Lottery Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund and Sport England.
The scheme makes awards of between £300 and £10,000 to grass-roots community groups and voluntary organisations.
The other group to receive funding was Newport Recreation Club on Main Street, Newport. The club received £9,635.
Published on 10th April 2008 in News.
Add to: Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit
Comments
There are currently no comments
Comments are closed for this article.