Dobbies’ Shrewsbury store invites local residents to cast their votes
Dobbies’ Shrewsbury store is inviting local residents to cast their vote and help the garden centre crown the Helping Your Community Grow winner for the store.
Seventy-five groups across the country have the chance to create or refresh a community space with Dobbies’ support, and the garden centre is now asking locals to help narrow its shortlist down, to one winner for its Shrewsbury store.
This year’s initiative has welcomed nominations from schools looking to enhance their gardens; charities supporting the most vulnerable members of the community proposing sensory gardens; and community groups and clubs looking to create a garden space where they can grow their own fruit and vegetables.
Dorrington Community Garden is a community initiative run by volunteers, looking to turn a piece of shrub land into a productive community garden. The group is in need of gardening tools, as well as perennial and aquatic plants and materials for a wildlife pond to flourish. Support from Dobbies would help take the garden to the next level.
Myddle Primary School Gardening Club in Shrewsbury encourages children to get involved and learn more about gardening by preparing soil, sowing plants and seeds, as well as learning how to make compost and a bug hotel. The club also grows their own produce and is hoping to sell their harvest in the summer term to raise funds to allow them to buy additional resources. Dobbies’ support would provide the club with peat-free compost, seeds and tools as well as expert advice.
There was a notable increase in the number of entries from groups looking to grow their own this year. This follows research from Dobbies and Censuswide (commissioned in March) that found 73% of Brits plan to grow their own fruit, vegetables and herbs this spring. Tomatoes are set to be the most popular crop for this year, closely followed by potatoes, strawberries, carrots, fresh mint, lettuce, and apples.
The winning group for Shrewsbury will receive advice, gardening products and plants from Dobbies’ horticultural team. Dobbies’ own-brand peat-free multipurpose compost, recycled and recyclable containers, UK-sourced plants and safer pest control products are among the many products the garden centre will donate.
Notably, the project that receives the most votes from all Dobbies stores will be the national winner, receiving extra funding and support.
Graeme Jenkins, CEO of Dobbies said: "We were overwhelmed with the response to our Helping Your Community Grow initiative and have seen a significant increase in nominations, with over 800 applications for 2023.
“A huge thank you to everyone who nominated their project for our Dobbies’ Shrewsbury store to support. It’s now up to the public to select the winner – our Shrewsbury team are very much looking forward to seeing who this will be.”
To find out more about the Helping Your Community Grow shortlist and to cast your vote, visit Helping Your Community Grow.
Votes are open until Tuesday 25 April. There is only one vote per person. The project with the most votes will be the winner. The project with the most votes across the UK will be the national winner.
