G Crematorium. y B G y B n G g G B G...was one of a series held this year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the crematorium. The facility opened on 28 January 1965. Community Events

WelcomeWelcome to our special edition of

Growing Together. This issue is

packed with news and

information about the wonderful

community projects and

initiatives going on in the

borough this summer.

Of particular importance is our

celebration of 25 years of

Newcastle in Bloom. We have

led a host of special projects to

mark this important milestone, all

detailed in our centre page

pull-out section.

Once again I want to say a huge

thank you to all the volunteers

and staff who work so hard to

keep these projects going. We

couldn’t do it without you.

Simon Long.

Community Development Officer.

CommemorativeBloom

Edition 10aSummer 2015

Freeport Community PlantingPupils from Springhead Primary School, Talke, revisited the siteadjacent to the Oak Tree Lane roundabout to plant a floral display as part of our community pledge scheme. They planted aselection of summer bedding plants in the shape of a gift tagwhich is Freeport Talke’s logo. The school has signed up to thepopular scheme, pledging to plant the area twice a year, in Juneand October. Freeport has agreed to fund the plants. The company is the first to sponsor us to purchase plants as opposedto supplying them directly. The floral display complements bee-friendly perennial planting done by the children last year.

New Volunteers

If you’ve enjoyed this

newsletter and would like

more information contact the

Community Management

Team.

Telephone 01782 717717,

e-mail or visit our website.

www.newcastle-staffs.gov.uk

together

Communities DayThe third Communities Day took place on 5 June.

Groups of volunteers got involved in a range of events

throughout the borough to help improve their

environment. More than 25 events took place and a total

of 284 hours of work was recorded.

Once again the overwhelming community spirit was

wonderful to see. Thanks again to all the volunteers and

staff who came together and worked so hard to make this

event possible.

Community ChampionOnce again we had many nominations for our community champion scheme which is designed for those peoplewho do so much to help others in the community. Congratulations to our winnersAlice Alexander – Best IndividualRichard Evans – Best Project LeaderFriends of Kidsgrove Station Garden – BestGroup and Overall Community Champion.

The past few months have seen evenmore volunteers coming along to help

improve our parks and open spaces. Ofparticular interest recently have been thenew groups of students coming fromNewcastle College. As part of theirhorticultural courses they now do regularwork sessions in our community foodgarden at Queen Elizabeth Park and thegardens of remembrance at BradwellCrematorium.

Wood CarvingWood CarvingAt Brampton Park the remains of a felled horse chestnut tree has been transformed into a carving of alocal hero. It depicts Tom Brown Tivey, a World WarOne soldier, who can be seen looking towards a ladysitting on a bench and holding a letter. This is an existing commemorative sculpture to mark the centenary of the First World War. This project has been part funded by the North StaffsModel Engineering Society who run the popular miniature railway in the park.

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Children from Hassell Community Primary School,

Newcastle, planting summer bedding-donated by

Thursfield Nursery-in Newcastle town centre.

Wood carving of Tom Brown Tivey, a World War One

soldier, at Brampton Park.

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Nelson PlaceOne of our highest profile projects this yearhas been to improve the Nelson Place traffic circle adjacent to Queens Gardens. The new “riverbed” landscaping works,giant fish sculpture and refurbished fountains have all combined to enhanceand improve this important gateway into thetown centre. Thank you to the partners andsponsors who made this project possible, inparticular; PM Training, Realise, AspireHousing, Derek Mawby Surfacing andGlendale.

Giant fish sculpture at Neslon Place.

Children from Springhead Primary School planting flower beds at Talke.

Poetry competition

The latest winners of our

poetry competition are Daniel

Goodwin, aged 11, from

Edenhurst Preparatory School,

Newcastle, and Imogen Knipe, aged

six, from Bradwell County Primary

School.

Their creative efforts are engraved

on a plaque at Westlands Sports

Ground and a memorial stone by

the new gazebo at Bradwell

Crematorium. Both children

attended ceremonies where the

stone/plaque was unveiled. Winning

poems are on display at the

crematorium’s new gazebo. A

selection of poems are also

brightening up a shop window in

Newcastle town centre. This

initiative, sponsored by local

stonemason Wilf Burt, will be rolled

out periodically to schoolchildren of

all ages.

Kidsgrove Rotary and Tesco Community PlantingChildren from St. John The Evangelist Catholic Academy,

Kidsgrove, did some extra planting at The Avenue memorial

gardens. This area was planted last year before Remembrance

Sunday. The plants have been donated by Kidsgrove Rotary and

Kidsgrove Tesco.

Bradwell Crematorium Bradwell Crematorium is 50-years-oldis 50-years-oldTwo neighbouring primary schools joined forces by taking part in a

commemorative planting event at Bradwell Crematorium. Children

from Bursley Academy and Bradwell County Primary School, who

are regular visitors to the site, planted crocosmia and gladioli bulbs

around the new gazebo, adjacent to the petal garden. This event

was one of a series held this year to celebrate the 50th anniversary

of the crematorium. The facility opened on 28 January 1965.

CommunityEventsOnce again with the help of our

partners we held a range of

community events in our parks

this year. They included

Midsummer Mayhem, two Love

Parks events and our annual

Food and Craft show.

NEWCASTLE ROTARY COMMUNITY NEWCASTLE ROTARY COMMUNITY PLANTINGPLANTINGChildren from St. Giles’ and St. George’s Academyplanted summer bedding plants at St Giles’ Churchin Newcastle. This area has been sponsored by Newcastle Rotary Club.

Children from Bradwell County Primary

School at Bradwell Crematorium.

Imogen Knipe at Bradwell Crematorium. Daniel Goodwin and parents at Westlands

Sports Ground.

A pupil from St. Giles’ and St. George’s Primary School planting at St.

Giles’ Church.

Children from St. John The Evangelist Catholic

Academy planting at The Avenue, Kidsgrove.


New CommunityFood Gardens

This year has seen the Council

create two new food garden projects

at Chesterton Park and Clough Hall

Park, Kidsgrove. We were able to

do this by gaining funding from

Staffs County Council, which was

awarded on the back of our success

with a similar project at Queen

Elizabeth Park. The gardens will be

developed over the next few years

with our partners from “Elite” who

are based in the parks.

Food & Craft Show2015The ever popular Food & Craft Show that has takenplace at Lyme Valley Parkway for the last few yearshas had a change of venue and took place on 13September at Bradwell Lodge. We received a recordtotal of 160 exhibits andthe standard of entrieswere excellent.The winners of the showare as follows:

Overall Winner Vegetable & Produce –Geoff Hall

Overall Winner Floral &Handicraft – Cherry Wallace

Overall Winner Children’s Class – Isabel Hawkins

Poem written by Daniel Goodwin, Edenhurst

Preparatory School

New gazebo adjacent to petal garden

Children’s class entrants with Cllr. Amelia

Rout.

Anemone in flower at The Avenue, Kidsgrove.

Photos of vegetables and Florals at

Food and Craft Show

COMMUNITY PLEDGE SCHEME

This special milestone year has

introduced new groups, businesses

and schools to this scheme which

encourages communities to take

ownership by supplying and/or

planting areas twice a year, in June

and October. Participants are

presented with a framed

community pledge certificate.

There are currently 28 pledge’s

taking part this year:

Garners Garden Centre

B&Q Talke

Freeport Talke

Dorothy Clive Garden

Jackson’s Nursery & Tea Room

Pool End Farm, Leycett

Westholme Nurseries

Lindop’s of Woore

Mucklestone Nurseries

T D Thursfield

Kerry Hill Nurseries

Bridgemere & Wyevale Garden

Centre

Tesco, Kidsgrove

Kidsgove Rotary

The Coppice Academy, Newcastle

Dove Bank Primary, Kidsgrove

Knutton St. Mary’s Primary

St. Luke’s Primary, Silverdale

St. Thomas’ Primary, Kidsgrove

St. John The Evangelist Catholic

Academy, Kidsgrove

St. Mary’s Catholic Primary,

Newcastle

Bursley Academy, Bradwell

Bradwell County Primary

Hassell Community Primary,

Newcastle

St. Giles’ and St. George’s

Academy, Newcastle

Springhead Primary, Talke

CEDARS Short Stay School

The Kings School

Newcastle-under-Lyme College and

Elite

Children’s Painting CompetitionChildren’s Painting CompetitionA total of 52 winners picked up certificates and prizes fromthe Borough Mayor at Keele University on 10 June.The theme of this year’s competition, once again sponsoredby The Art Studio Gallery in Newcastle, was “Down ourBloomin’ Street”. Artist Grega Greaves, who has designedsubway art in Newcastle, had the difficult task of choosingtwo overall winners from 1,270 entries from 19 primary, secondary and special schools in the borough. He chose a colourful creation featuring rows of houses and3d paper flowers as the winner of the under 10s category.The mixed media artwork was produced by a group ofpupils, aged between five and seven, from Richard Heathcote Community Primary School in Alsagers Bank. Meanwhile, 11-year-old Annaleece Longmore’s watercolour scene was selected as the winner of the over 10s section. The youngster, from Chesterton Primary School, paintedhouses and gardens.Some paintings are currently on display in a shop window in Newcastle town centre.

Local CompetitionsJudging of Newcastle’s local In Bloom

competitions took place during July.

Judges were taken round the borough’s

allotment sites, residential and community

gardens, businesses and licensed premises.

Schools, villages, housing complexes and entire

streets got involved to improve the quality of life in

their area.

This year we have introduced a new category

for “Best Street”. This links with this year’s RHS

theme Greening Grey Britain which is a

three-year campaign designed to encourage

residents to green up their neighbourhoods.

The local competitions were sponsored by

Garners Garden Centre, Sainsbury’s and

Aspire Housing. A host of prizes were also donated

by Tesco, Kidsgrove, Bridgemere, Jackson’s

Nurseries, Westholme Nurseries, Dorothy Clive

Garden and Trentham Gardens and awarded to

winners at a ceremony, held at the New Vic

Theatre in October.

Grega Greaves with Annaleece Longmore and children

from Richard Heathcote Community Primary School

outside The Art Studio.

Children from St. Giles’ & St. George’s Academy planting summer bedding plants

donated by Jackson’s Nurseries in Newcastle town centre.

Children from Bursley Academy at Bradwell Crematorium.

Children from St. Giles’ & St. George’s Primary School planting summer bedding plants

donated by Bridgemere Nursery at Newcastle town centre.

MentorSchemeWe are proud to

welcome a brand

new member to

our team of

mentors. Amanda Stevenson, the Scheme Manager

at Waveney Court Clayton, has been instrumental in

the development of her project to not only improve

the environment for the residents but to also inspire

the neighbouring

residential housing complex, Riversmead, to get

involved, share ideas and create communal gardens

that are immaculate. She has also established links

with the police and the local schools and has

provided opportunities for children to help out with

the project, learn new skills and have a sense of

pride by improving their local community. So if you

need advice on starting a new community project or

on how to improve an existing one, let us know and

we will put you in touch with Amanda.

Don’t forget our other mentors are always on hand.

Amanda Stevenson, Scheme Manager at

Waveney Court.


This year Newcastle is celebrating 25 years

of being involved with the Britain in Bloom

campaign and we have embarked on lots

of new projects to mark this special milestone.

Follow Queenie’s trail to see what we’ve all

been up to.

25 Years of Newcastle in 25 Years of Newcastle in Judging Day 15 JulyWe were very proud on the 15th of July to show the Heart of England judges around the

borough. The three hour tour took in all sorts of sites including; Bradwell Crematorium,

Silverdale Community Country Park and Waveney Grove sheltered housing scheme. The sun

shone and the whole day came to a wonderful climax in Queens’s gardens with the WI ladies,

partner organisations and staff members all helping to sing Jerusalem and sampling pieces of a

celebratory cake. We can now report that the borough gained another “Gold” award for its

bloom entry overall, which is the 14th successive time we have done so.

Meet “Queenie” our New Mascot for 2015Another way we marked our 25 year celebrations was the launch of our new

mascot for the campaign “Queenie the Bee”. Not only does she form the focus of

our new logo, but she even made a special guest appearance in Queens

Gardens on judging day. Look out for Queenie at future events.

Fl ral ArtSome temporary ground art has been installed which raises

awareness of the above WI project and lists the branches

involved. This is sited in the central entrance to the Queen’s

Gardens, just in front of the Queen Victoria statue.

It is anticipated that the artwork will be in place for

the duration of the campaign. This project has been

sponsored by ELITE, a community interest company

who work tirelessly to help eliminate the barriers that

prevent disabled people from living full and

independent lives.

Silver BedChildren from St. Mary’s Catholic Primary School, Newcastle, have planted a special

flower bed to celebrate our anniversary. This flagship planting event was held on

Communities Day which was attended by Borough Mayor Sandra Hambleton. A selection

of silver herbaceous perennials were planted including blue spruce, white lavender and

rosemary-leaved willow. All the plants were donated by Mucklestone Nurseries and

complement the adjoining golden-themed planter that was created last year to celebrate

50 years of Britain in Bloom.

Silver Birch TreesWe are planting 25 silver birch trees (paid for through

sponsorship) at various parks and green spaces in the borough.

Each tree will be fitted with a plaque.

Over the years the Council’s steering group has seen the campaign develop and evolve. More and

more emphasis has been placed on community involvement and engagement and less on

large-scale flower displays.

We are extremely proud of our achievements over the years which include:

13 golds, seven times overall winner, 13 special awards and four times elevated through to the

national competition.

This special pull-out gives an overview of some of the main Bloom projects and initiatives which

are taking place to commemorate this landmark year.

Decorative Garden StakesWe weren’t the only ones celebrating an important milestone this

year. The Women’s Institute have been doing all sorts of things to

mark the 100 years since they were formed. To link up these two

events we joined forces on a number of special projects

including, all the local groups sponsoring commemorative

plaques and helping on our judging tour by meeting the judges in

vintage costumes. As a final hurrah they produced a special cake

decorated with our Britain in Bloom logo and sang Jerusalem. As

a result of all this wonderful effort we were honoured with a

special Heart of England award.

Youngsters from St. Mary’s Catholic Primary School planting a

silver bed with Borough Mayor Sandra Hambleton and her

Consort Trevor Hambleton.

Roger Tait, Head of Operations, planting the

first tree at Silverdale Cemetery.

25 Years in PicturesOne of the ways we wanted to celebrate entering the bloom competition for a

quarter of a century was to create a “montage” of images, which have captured

moments throughout the years. We asked for support from many of the

wonderful people who have worked with us as part of our campaigns or have

entered our associated local competitions, and the response has been great.

The pictures where grouped together and put on display at Queens Gardens

Newcastle.


Cllr Amelia Rout unveiling 25 years in pictures

display at Queens Gardens.

Mascot ‘Queenie the Bee buzzing around

Queens Gardens.

W.I. branch members in Queens Gardens

on judging day.

G Crematorium. y B G y B n G g G B G...was one of a series held this year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the crematorium. The facility opened on 28 January 1965. Community Events

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