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In view of current government restrictions, and with future uncertainty, our group has decided that St Just in Bloom will be unable to provide and maintain floral displays around the town this year.

If restrictions are lifted before the end of the season we may be in a position to provide some flowers in the town centre, and where possible we will try to continue to maintain some of the public spaces that St Just in Bloom usually look after.

The Britain in Bloom competition has been cancelled for this year, but the ‘It’s Your Neighbourhood’ judging may go ahead later in the year.

With regard to our own competitions, the painting and photographic competition will not go ahead, but it may be possible to judge the gardening competition later in the year. We will make a final decision when restrictions allow it.

St Just in Bloom Committee, April 2020

RHS ‘It’s Your Neighbourhood’ 2020

A further update to the above, regrettably this year’s RHS ‘It’s Your Neighbourhood’ judging will not be taking place due to the coronavirus.

On a brighter note however, the In Bloom Group will be organising some flower tiers for the centre of St Just. These should appear towards the end of June.

St Just in Bloom was formed in 2003 and entered SW in Bloom for the first time in 2004, when we won a silver medal. For the next nine years we won silver gilt and since then we have won gold. In 2016 and 2019 were in the Champion of Champion category. This means that we are competing against large towns, which have a gardening workforce as well as volunteers, like Truro, and also villages like St Izzey, which are similar to us with no paid work force. On both occasions we obtained gold and in 2016 we shared the trophy with Sherborne in Dorset — a very special moment.

Some of our founder volunteers are still with us, some in their 70s and 80s and as such are now looking to reduce considerably their commitment to the project. We are also facing problems with watering, which was initially done by Penwith District Council and then passed onto us which has become a significant problem as we have evolved and introduced new areas. There are three members who have watered and one is having to reduce his involvement because of work opportunities and another member can no longer commit as much time to it. We have therefore reached a crossroads and have held a special meeting to decide whether as a group we could continue, as our appeals for extra help have received very little positive feedback.

We have decided to continue in 2020 but will not enter the South West in Bloom competition. We will then in September/October make the decision as to whether we can continue. None of us want to see the group disappear but unless we receive some extra volunteers we are afraid that the outcome will be inevitable. We believe and so do the majority of our population that St Just benefits from the displays. So please if you can help in any way please come forward and contact our present chairman Chris Goninan on 01736 788722 or email bulamrg@aol.com and discuss what you can do for the benefit of our town.

2020 Coronavirus Update

Although the call for volunteers above is still standing, note that due to the Coronavirus 2020 lock down, St Just in Bloom has had to significantly cut back its activities in 2020. For full details on this please see our St Just in Bloom Coronavirus Update 2020 news post.

St Just in Bloom has won a gold medal in the Champion of Champions category of South West in Bloom. We are thrilled with the result and would like to extend our thanks to all those who have helped achieve this!

Many thanks to local garden and landscaping company CGS for their support in ensuring the safety of the flower tubs positioned in the centre of St Just over this month’s Lafrowda weekend.

In particular we would like to thank Neil McFadden who came up with the idea and for providing the use of his trailer, and also Kevin Prowse for driving the forklift truck.

A good early morning’s bit of work!

St Just in Bloom is representing the SW of England in the UK Finals for the first time in the small town category.

They will also be in the SW in Bloom’s Champion of Champions and will consequently have two judging days. The first one is on the 25th of July for the Champion of Champions and the UK Finals will be judged on the 31st of July. The judging on both days begins at 0900 hours.

Detailed information for the two days can be found in the following itineraries for the Judges’ tours:

• 25th July Champion of Champions Judges’ Tour (PDF, 1MB)
• 31st July Judges’ Tour (PDF, 1MB)

We also have the 2019 Gardening Competition leaflet and application form ready: St Just in Bloom Leaflet Garden Competition 2019 (PDF, 550KB)

Click the above link to download the form, print it out and once completed return to: Marlene Smith 10 Bosavern Close St Just TR19 7QU or email msmith963@btinternet.com

Many thanks to every body who sponsored and a well done to our walkers!

We have raised approximately £500 from our walk to Carn Gloose this year.

St Just in Bloom – Winners of Gold Medals for the last five years – will be representing the South West Region for the Small Town Category of the 2019 RHS in Bloom UK Finals!

It goes without saying that this is a great honour for the Town and this could not have been achieved without both suppport and commitment from the local Community both business wise and volunteers.

We would greatly appreciate any help and time (no matter how small) that you would be able to spare to assist, e.g. looking after a display, dead heading flowers, etc…

If you can help, please contact Dilys Ryan on 01736 788943 or dillysouthplace14@gmail.com

Let’s show the judges once again what a special place St Just is and the high standards we set!!

The 2017 results are now available:

• 2017 St Just in Bloom Garden Competition Results (92KB)
• 2017 St Just in Bloom School Painting Results (126KB)

Well done and a big thank you to everyone who was involved and took part!