Friday, December 6, 2024
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Greenham group blooms and grows

A new Greenham gardening group is growing from strength to strength.

The Greener Greenham Group was set up last year by local resident and Greenham Parish Councillor, Alison Blackborow.

So far, the group has attracted a keen team of garden volunteers, and has in a short time created several events, such as planting up tubs and baskets at Greenham Control Tower with summer bedding, arranging a Litter Pick in June, and planting 8,500 flower bulbs at Stroud Green, as well as general bulb and tree planting within Greenham. The group has grown by word of mouth and knocking on doors.

Last Saturday, despite very bad weather, an amazing turnout of 51 volunteers joined forces with West Berkshire Council to hold the large bulb-planting Community Event at Stroud Green.  Earlier that week West Berkshire Council’s contractors cut and rolled back the turf to create 25 prepared areas, called ‘scrapes’, around the outside edge of the triangle. The volunteers planted seven varieties of bulbs in each scrape and re-laid the turf.

Leader of the group, Alison Blackborow, says;

“It was a wet, muddy and fun task and the volunteers were sustained with homemade cake, biscuits, crisps and warm drinks. The whole activity was completed in approximately 2.5 hours, just before torrential rain set in.  The Greener Greenham Group sincerely thanks all the volunteers who braved the elements, to create what should be a blaze of colour in the spring, and also the West Berkshire Council Countryside Management Team for its support.

Another Community Event is planned for Saturday 27th November when twenty trees will be planted at Stroud Green – all are welcome. Please join us!”

For further information, contact the Greener Greenham Group on 07766 558849.

Pictured above: Greener Greenham volunteers, left to right; Alison Blackborow, Helen Beard, Peter Blackborow, Jon Bowden and Jane Hawkins. (There is another key member of the group, Katharine Prior.)