Newbury In Bloom 2026!

We have proudly supported Newbury In Bloom for the last 10 years and this year we have sponsored both the Schools category and the Community Projects.

I had the absolute pleasure of helping out on the judging panel for the schools category again this year, I really enjoy this part of my job and having done this for a number of years

In past I think the main goal of these spaces was for the wow factor, lots of flowers and an abundance of colour, but nowadays there is a larger emphasis on the environment and wellbeing which is really reflected in the Newbury In Bloom gardens that we see in schools.

All of the schools use the gardens to enrich the learning experience of the children, planting, growing and eating various fruit, vegetables and herbs are great for science and food tech lessons.

Building bug houses and ponds, watching nesting birds and even keeping chickens teaches about Geography and Zoology

Learning about mulching, composting and water harvesting will teach you so much about the environment

Studying about the costs of whether to propagate, buy or grow plants from seed and

selling plants to fundraise for seeds, covers a maths lesson, I remember one school this year found the beauty of the reduced aisle at their local garden centre…..how exciting to see how far that money can go!!!

For us amateur gardeners it’s always interesting to learn that our harvest of one bowl of home grown tomatoes only cost £125 to grow from seed !!! There’s nothing better than a free home grown tomato though 😉

As well as lessons we saw gardens that are used for after school or lunchtime gardening clubs

And quiet gardens for reading, reflection, remembrance and tranquil SEN spaces.

These spaces really are worth their weight in gold!

Opening up these projects to the schools wider community of family, friends and neighbours and even local environmental groups really helps to create a supportive village of people around these schools.

It is marvellous to see how Newbury In Bloom encourages and supports the creation of these spaces which with the hard work all the schools who have entered this year can enrich the lives of the children, staff and families that use them.