THE work of Ludlow in Bloom has been secured for another year.

Vivienne Parry, chairman of the group, told Ludlow Town Council that without a grant of £2,500 it would have had to stop.

She said that each year the group, which struck gold again this year, has to spend more than £2,000 just to pay for plants.

“Without this money, we would not be able to carry on,” said Vivienne Parry who is a member of both Ludlow Town Council and Shropshire Council.

Figures presented to the town council show that in the past year it had an income of nearly £15,000 but that the bulk of this, £12,000, was a one-off grant from Tesco which has been used to create a sensory garden in the Castle Street car park.

This year, the town won its tenth successive gold in the Heart of England in Bloom awards.

It marked a remarkable achievement for the volunteers behind the Ludlow in Bloom group.

The result means that Ludlow has won gold on 12 of the 14 occasions that it has entered the competition.

In the first year, the group was awarded bronze and after a few years of achieving gold there was a silver but since then it has been a continual ‘gold rush'.

The result this year resulted in a special sigh of relief from the Ludlow group as the regional awards were presented in the town so there was added pressure not to let standards slide.

This year the big idea was a ‘sensory garden’ in the Castle Street car park that was made possible thanks to a grant of £12,000 from Tesco – money raised from the sale of carrier bags.

The sensory garden brings a touch of the fragrance of flowers and enables people with visual impairment to enjoy plants.

Vivienne Parry has said that every year it gets harder to maintain the standard and the fact that gold has come to be expected creates pressures for the small army of volunteers that work with the group. They undertake the planning, planting and care of the more than 100 different pots and planting places in and around the town.

There is also an important contribution from the businesses, commercial supporters and sponsors.

The support from Ludlow Town Council is partly in recognition of the fact that having a town that looks good is not just something to do in itself but also has a part of play in making Ludlow a good place to visit which is especially important given the vital part that tourism plays in the town’s economy.

Vivienne Parry said that a lot of the success is because of work that goes on unnoticed throughout the year.

The Heart of England judges are not just interested in if a town looks good but also want a demonstration of community involvement and support. In Ludlow part of this included the Neighbourhood Awards.