This summer, the people we support at Cartref Ni were invited to take part in our annual garden competition.

The garden competition is designed to allow the people we support to learn new skills, enjoy time outdoors and to have some fun in the summer months.  It’s also a great opportunity for support staff to get creative and show how inventive they can be with their ‘green fingers’!

All houses are encouraged to take part in the competition as the inclusive brief is not dependent on size of outdoor space, but can be a pot, window box or a small area within the garden.

Each house is given the same brief in the springtime with this year focusing on three themes – Growing Green, Welcoming Wildlife and Health and Wellbeing.

Growing Green involved improving the garden using recyclable products. Welcoming Wildlife was about transforming the garden or window pots and boxes to capture all the beauty of nature. Health and Wellbeing was focused on having a go at growing herbs, vegetables and fruit.

A total of 17 gardens took part right across Flintshire, Denbighshire and Conwy and a huge variety of innovative entries were received.

Judging took place in July by Cartref Ni Trustees who found it very difficult to announce winners based on the high calibre of the entrants.

The winners of the garden competition were Oxford Road, Conwy who grew their own produce and made some good use of recycled materials. Awel Y Dyffryn, Denbighshire who had a totally new garden and made edging from pebbles, hand painted by the individuals living there. Aber Road, Denbighshire who had a lovely garden front and back and made great use out of an old pallet. The Brambles, Flintshire where it was great to see some teamwork with everyone being involved in the planting.

The winners received a range of fantastic prizes including a marquee, water feature, fire pit and outdoor lights and all runners up received a tub of flowers.

The support that the staff gave to make it such a success was fantastic and it was clear that they had enjoyed getting involved.

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