Community Involvement

This year’s bloom campaign has created a strong sense of community pride and involvement. A huge cross section of the local community have taken part in the campaign from girl guide groups to housing associations. Over the past 12 months the Bloom committee have been engaging and encouraging the public to do their bit by presenting to various associations and liaising with neighbourhood groups. The girl guides were especially keen to design the Trinity Bed in the shape of the trefoil to celebrate the centenary of guiding in the UK using a mix of marigolds, begonias and other summer flowering foliage. All across the country, Girl Guides are celebrating their 100th anniversary in as many different ways as possible. The Coventry Guide Group worked closely with English Landscapes for both the planning and planting of the bed and it is an unusual and attractive way to celebrate their anniversary. Jardine Crescent in Tile hill benefited from a lick of paint as local youths, under the guidance of Stephen Boyle created several wall murals around the area which discouraged anti social behaviour and graffiti and encouraged teamwork whilst creating stunning artwork within the neighbourhood.

The ‘Best Garden Competition’ in association with the Coventry Telegraph has proven extremely popular with the public and the Coventry Telegraph received hundreds of entries from gardens of all different shapes and sizes across the city with the hopeful entrants all vying for their garden to be crowned the best in Coventry.

Various residents associations have created their own Bloom themed events and activities, Whitefriars Housing hosted a Bell Green in Bloom day on June 3 for all local residents who fancied brightening up their balconies with flower boxes this summer. Plants and boxes were available for residents to create their own mini gardens free of charge and Whitefriars staff were on hand to talk to offer general housing advice. The event took place from 10am to 12 noon in Riley Square. Some of the brains behind the project include resident street champions who each look after the street in which they live to make sure any issues, such as graffiti or anti-social behaviour, are reported to keep the area in the best condition possible. With the majority of residents living in flats balcony boxes were the ideal choice to ensure that all residents were able to participate and brighten up their homes in time for summer.

Thumbnail : Studland Green : Click image to enlarge

In Studland Green, local residents set about reclaiming and tidying the community green in front of their properties, a group of volunteers picked litter, cut back shrubbery and pruned low hanging tree branches along the popular Sowe Valley footpath. The Sowe Valley is a continuous riverside park stretching for 8½ miles from Hawkesbury Junction Conservation Area in the north to Stonebridge Meadows Local Nature Reserve in the south. It links the countryside with the city and passes Aldermans Green, Wood End, Bell Green, Henley Green, Walsgrave, Clifford Park, Wyken, Ernesford Grange, Binley, Stoke, Willenhall and Whitley. Its character is constantly changing, some parts are green and rural, others are more built up, but all areas provide a place of escape from the noise and pressures of the City.

Thumbnail : The Canley Brook project : Click image to enlarge

The Canley Brook project has created a small natural play space with links to footpaths and the natural environment. The project was carried out in association with Groudwork West Midlands a leading environmental regeneration organisation, working in partnership for the benefit of local people, the local environment and local business. Their main purpose is 'to build sustainable communities through joint environmental action'. This includes helping them to have meaningful involvement in the development of their local area.

The project comprised of a community clearance and tree planting day, art workshops for local primary school children and the creation of a play area, which includes a timber post maze and leaping posts. The community have been engaged throughout the project, through the design process and the clearance and planting events. The local community have gained a new facility which has provided new opportunities for local children to take place in outdoor physical activity.

As well as this, resident’s front gardens across Coventry are ablaze with colourful hanging baskets consisting of petunias, trailing ivy, pansies and a wide mixture of fragrant displays which is both an inviting and encouraging sign that many people like to do their own part in making this city a bright and vibrant location.
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