Council Tenants Receive Recognition for Gardening Talents

Several Council tenants from across the borough have received awards for their gardening talents in an annual competition.
The tenant garden competition, which is run by Charnwood Borough Council, was split into six different categories, to showcase gardens of all shapes and sizes. Overall, there were 28 entries in this year’s competition.
The four tenant judges, who had the tough task of choosing this year’s winners, praised the contestants for their high standard and the hard work that they had all put in over the past year.
High street vouchers were awarded to the winners and runners-up during the event at Loughborough Town Hall on Thursday 30th September.

The awards were handed out by Cllr Paul Baines, the Mayor of Charnwood. He said: “It has been a great afternoon celebrating the high standard of gardening in this year’s competition. It is such an honour to hand out awards to tenants who have spent so much time maintaining and taking pride in their gardens and communal areas. I would like to thank and congratulate them for all their efforts.”

The categories for this year’s competition included, best hanging basket or balcony, best communal garden, best sheltered court garden and best house or flat garden. There were also two categories which have only been running for their second year, which were best newcomer and best fruit and vegetable garden.

Cllr James Poland, the Council’s lead member for public housing said: “It is fantastic to see so many entries and all the hard work that tenants have put into their gardens during what has been a difficult time. Gardening has been a great escape for people during the pandemic and it’s brilliant to see what they have achieved. It was a shame we could not hold the competition last year, however it was certainly worth the wait with all the gardens entered being at such a high standard. Congratulations to all of the winners and everyone who has taken part in this year’s competition.”
The winners for 2021 were:
Best hanging basket or balcony:
Joint first place: John Allen and Mrs Landers & Mrs Jacobson
Second place: Mr Kevin Poole
Third place: Jemma Barnett
Communal garden:
First place: Mr & Mrs Barradell
Second place: Mr Onslow
Third place: Mr Pipes
Sheltered court garden:
First place: Arnold Smith House, Shepshed
Second place: Fielding Court, Loughborough
Third place: St. Pauls Court, Syston
House or flat garden:
First place: Michael Taylor
Second place: Mr Miles
Third place: Mr & Mrs Pipes
Best newcomer:
First place: June Letten
Second place: Mr & Mrs Reeves
Third place: Debbie Newton
Fruit and vegetable garden:  
First place: Lisa Davies
Last year, the competition was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, tenants were encouraged to send in photos of their gardens last year, which were published in Your Homes Matter, the Council’s newsletter for tenants.