The UK judges will arrive on Friday, with the parish representing the island in the national competition. The judges will be taken on a tour of the charity’s work with Floral St Saviour’s chairwoman Liz Pirouet-Douglas.
‘I’m really excited,’ she said.
‘I’m a proud Guernsey girl and it’s lovely to get an opportunity to show the island off at it’s best.’
The Britain in Bloom judging scheme assesses communities on their horticultural achievements, environmental responsibility, and community participation. Floral St Saviour’s will demonstrate its strong commitment to these areas, with a presentation to the judges.
‘It gives us a focus,’ said Mrs Pirouet-Douglas.
‘We’re not stressed but our phrase is “we like to see it tended”. We’ve probably planted about 90,000 bulbs in the parish. While it’s a lot about the flowers, we are known among the judges as the fun group because we like to have a laugh and not take it too seriously. We don’t want to take the enjoyment out of our work.’
The focal part of their work this year, and the area they are keen to show the judges, is St Saviour’s Community Centre.
Among their efforts to create a welcoming, sustainable and community-focused space, teams of about a dozen volunteers and community service groups have camouflaged sheds with the beauty of nature and artwork, added hidden areas of peaceful escape, incorporated butterfly gardens and created interesting worlds for the centre’s play school children to explore.
‘We would not have some of the gardens we have without the help of community service,’ said Mrs Pirouet-Douglas.
‘We give them ownership of the area and they absolutely transform them. I think they really appreciate giving back to the community and seeing it in action. We’ve had people who come back and continue even after they served their hours.’
On the judges’ route will be St Saviour’s Church, to meet the many keen members of its Sunday Club, who will show them the upside-down, back-to-front ‘weird’ gravestones and tell them the stories they hold.
‘We’ll be giving them a whole picture of Guernsey as an island, it’s not just about the floral,’ said Mrs Pirouet-Douglas.
‘It’s so important, and we learn so much ourselves along the way.’
‘We want sunshine and no wind,’ said its chairwoman, Cathy Bailey. ‘Liz works so incredibly hard. She and everyone involved deserve this chance to be seen and valued.’
St Saviour’s will be competing in the village and large village category against Cowpen Bewley in Northumbria, Eynsford in Kent and Filby near Great Yarmouth.
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