SILVER ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS

Bury in Bloom celebrated its 25th anniversary with a sparkling wine and canapé reception at the Athenaeum on 30th June. Guests included the Mayor of St Edmundsbury, Councillor Christopher Spicer, David Ruffley MP, senior officers of St Edmundsbury Borough Council, sponsors, borough and town councillors, supporters and executive member of Bury in Bloom.

The ballroom looked fantastic for the event, with stunning flower arrangements created by Carol Sprake.

Louise Vickers, head of sugar for main sponsors, Silver Spoon, spoke of how delighted the company was to be in partnership with Bury in Bloom and how they hoped to continue this relationship well into the future.

Alan Jary, Chair of the Bury Society, presented Mike Ames, retiring chairman of Bury in Bloom with a caricature drawn by Councillor Stefan Oliver.

Campaign manager, Julia Rackowe and Caroline Brown from St Edmundsbury borough council help Mike cut the cake!

YOUNG GREEN FINGERS COMPETITION

Judging of the schools gardening has now taken place and details can be seen by clicking on the Schools page

WINNER ANNOUNCED FOR THE ROUNDABOUT DESIGN COMPETITION – ‘FROM ABBEY TO ARC’

Emmanuel O’Brien, a seventeen-year-old art student from West Suffolk College is winner of the Bury in Bloom 25th Anniversary design competition. With the theme ‘From Abbey to arc’, the competition guidelines called for ideas for the complete redesign of two major Bury St Edmunds roundabouts, Risbygate Street and King’s Road, sited at either end of the dual carriageway section of Parkway.

Emmanuel flanked by - from left, Karen Mayhew, CEO of Havebury Housing, Julia Rackowe, Councillor Bob Cockle, chair of Bury St Edmunds Town Council, Paul Haynes, arc centre manager, Ian Winslet, CEO of Suffolk Housing, Borough parks officer Caroline Brown and Mike Ames.

As well as keeping in mind the need for sustainable, drought-resistant planting on the roundabouts, we asked for some form of sculpture to be included in the design. Emmanuel has taken up the challenge and has produced drawings of the figure of King Edmund at the moment of his martyrdom as the centrepiece for his design for Risbygate Street roundabout.

The redesign is being paid for by sponsorship from Bury in Bloom reserves, Bury St Edmunds Town Council, Havebury Housing Partnership and Suffolk Housing Society. Emmanuel’s prize is an iPad2 from Stormfront at arc.

Emmanuel picking up his iPad2 prize from Tom, assistant manager at Stormfront

Work will start on Risbygate Street roundabout first, including installing the figure of St Edmund. The redesign of King’s Road roundabout, reflecting the ‘arc’ element of the design brief will be completed in 2012.

IT’S SILVER ALL THE WAY FOR BURY IN BLOOM

Bury in Bloom is delighted to announce an important initiative which will ensure the campaign remains in good economic health for some time to come. Silver Spoon plc Peterborough, by providing a substantial injection of cash, is to become campaign partner with Bury in Bloom over an initial three-year period. The news comes at an auspicious time, with Bury in Bloom celebrating it’s Silver Anniversary this year.

Campaign Manager, Julia Rackowe, comments:

“Like many other organisations, Bury in Bloom has been affected by the economic downturn, with costs rising and a reluctance on our part to increase sponsorship from hard-pressed local business supporters. So this partnership with Silver Spoon, with its ‘Homegrown’ slogan, couldn’t be better suited to Bury in Bloom, nor have come at a better time. It guarantees that Bury St Edmunds will reap the rewards of a vigorous and robust In Bloom campaign for the foreseeable future. It means projects that have had to be reined in this year, such as our Green Fingers local competition stand a good chance of being reinstated in 2012. And of course our bids in future regional and national awards stakes will benefit from the confidence that a sound economic footing provides.”

Nancy Sadler of Silver Spoon and Julia Rackowe,
with Mike Ames, and Simon Pott

Tony Lucas, Silver Spoon Marketing Director said: ‘Supporting Bury in Bloom is a brilliant opportunity as our roots in Bury St Edmunds are very important to us. Bury in Bloom is a fantastic campaign that aims to improve the local community through growing flowers and trees, whilst Silver Spoon contributes to the local economy through our homegrown sugar.
By supporting Bury in Bloom we hope to make the area a greener and more beautiful place.’