Page 50 - ALG Issue 1 2016 No social share

North West
Blackpool Federation Presentation Evening 2015
As the season drew to a close in September, Blackpool Federation held a Grand Presentation at the Matron Institute Club, which was attended by all the sites under our umbrella along with some very special guests. The evening was packed full of entertainment including live artist Lynda Stevens, followed by the rst of our awards for Best Allotments. This year our Judges, Betty and Danny Bradford, were joined by a judge from the National Allotment Society, North West Mentor Alan Hull.
It was a great pleasure to announce that the winner of the Best Allotment was Bill Garside from Bridge Farm Allotments; well done Bill, your plot was superb. Judging the plots took a full day; all sites were visited to inspect if the plots met the criteria for infrastructure, water conservation, use of compost and recycling, variety of crops and quality of produce growing - to name but a few of the points awarded. The judging was hard; ultimately there were only a couple of points between rst and
second place. After a wonderful
buffet and more live
music, the second
and main part of the
presentation took
place. This year we are
pleased to have another
5 sponsors, each offering a trophy for new categories.
Some of this year’s winners include Vin Walker, Best Carrots and Chillies, Malcolm Lewis for Heaviest Onion, Roman and Pauline Dolny joint with Jim Cowburn Best Gladioli, Charlie Richards for Sweet Peas, Sandra Rynhart for Best Fruit Cake and the list went on!
We were delighted to have Ian Brightman with us to present his late mother’s award for Best in Show. Both Pam and Gilbert
did a tremendous amount of work to save local allotments from closure and ensure allotments are what they are today. The Best in Show Award was just one tribute that the Federation could pay to Pam for all her hard work and this year it went to Lisa and Mike Cairns, a name that appeared throughout the evening for numerous other awards that they won.
This year’s Trustees Award for outstanding commitment and effort went to John Howell for his efforts in supporting his own site and the Federation have been rst class and he deserved to be recognised. Sadly, John was on holiday on the evening,
but his Dad was proud to accept it.
Roman and Pauline Dolny won two awards, one of which was for a
wonderful trug of vegetables. This display was superb and while it won our new award, kindly donated by Betty and Danny Bradford, it also won the Peoples Award; this is the award that the general public decide, so well done.
Our Federation Chairman’s award 2015 went to Bridge Farm for their outstanding work in recent months in improving the facilities for all plot holders and enhancing the site for the future. It was a pleasure to see their faces as they were very surprised to win this award.
Cllr Cain presented the Blackpool Council Trophy to Lisa and Mike Cairns this year. Cllr Cain then went on to thank everyone for putting so much effort into a wonderful show and attending the awards night. Blackpool Council are seen as the leading light in the partnership in allotment management with the Federation and clearly things are going from strength to strength.
In closing, it was
a delight to present
Jo Fowler from the
Air Ambulance with a
cheque for £300, which
we have collected in
2015. We decided to
support this valuable
service as no one ever knows when they will need their vital support. Jo went on
to explain how the money will be used in keeping the doctors ying to save people in life threatening circumstances. We have already committed to raising more money in 2016 and look forward to donations and
everyone’s support.
The Trustees wish to thank our new
patrons for 2016, Betty and Danny Bradford, for accepting this honour and we look forward to working with them throughout the year. We also wish to thank everyone over the last year that has supported the Federation to become the
best managed allotment service in the country. Also, thanks to Cllr Cain and John Blackledge, Blackpool Council and Blackpool Visitor Centre for allowing our produce show to be held in
a wonderful setting and to the plot holders who make this
happen. Thanks also to the reps on each site, without whom we would not be able to maintain this community service for the people of Blackpool.
Andy Percival, Blackpool Federation Chairman
This year’s Trustees Award for outstanding commitment and effort went to John Howell
it was a delight to present Jo Fowler from the Air Ambulance with a cheque for £300
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