"Having the support of the Royal Horticultural Societies is really fantastic for the project and I was delighted to attend Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. "
Rachael Bennion
Petrus Incredible Edible Rochdale (PIER) has been drumming up support from residents for the Royal Horticultural Societies (RHS) Britain In Bloom competition.
It is the second time PIER has entered the national award, achieving an impressive Level 4 – ‘Thriving Award’ for their work on Belfield Road Community Garden in 2017.
This year PIER has been working hard to make the street bloom too, as part of a new project to reclaim the street.
Working in partnership with Kashmir Youth Project (KYP) and involving residents, local businesses, children’s nurseries and Croft Shifa Health Centre, PIER has spread the floral displays at garden out onto the street and created a corridor of colour along the road.
The project is supported by the RHS’ Greening Grey Britain fund and due its success last year, PIER engagement worker, Rachael Bennion, was invited to attend the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show and share her experiences alongside 100 community gardeners. On the day, Rachael met a range of experts, show garden designers, trustees and celebrities.
Rachael said: “I am really excited that the whole community has taken part in making Belfield Road bloom with colour ahead of the competition.
“We are hugely proud of our achievements with the garden last year and I am sure that we will impress the judges yet again.
“Having the support of the Royal Horticultural Societies is really fantastic for the project and I was delighted to attend Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. I even managed to get a few sneaky tips from Alan Titchmarsh.”
The project aims to bring all members of the community together to make the area a brighter more vibrant place to live and empowering people to make positive changes to their environment.
Petrus PIER is a community gardening group ran by Petrus Community which provides supported housing and related services to homeless people in the Rochdale area
PIER is open to the public as a place to volunteer and learn new skills or relax and enjoy the community garden. For more information on how to get involved with PIER contact Rachel.bennion@petrus.org.uk 01706 646925
