How Britain in Bloom helped residents in Alness, Scotland, breathe new life into its troubled community.
Alness in the Highlands of Scotland has used the Britain in Bloom campaign to bring its community back to life following years of decline when the town’s main employer closed down. This is some achievement for a town that had one of the most depressed economies in the country. Alness grew rapidly to accommodate the rapid influx of workers in the nearby Invergordon smelter and oil platform construction yard, both of which then closed. The empty houses were used by local authorities across the country as dumping grounds for problem and homeless families.
The catalyst for turning the community around has been Britain in Bloom. Alness, further North than Moscow, was a long, cold, grey, litter-ridden main street surrounded by 1970s housing schemes and too few resources in terms of shops, dentists and entertainment. It was a place to be depressed in.
But now it sparkles, transformed by the Bloom volunteers who have gathered around them an increasing number of people of all ages, who dig, plant, weed and water throughout the summer, and plot and plan during the winter.
Support from the whole community
Carolyn Wilson, the driving force behind the campaign says, “The council helps us by dealing with routine jobs such as road sweeping, grass cutting and maintenance of public conveniences, while the community groups get together for litter picking, deadheading and so on, and I have been able to secure funding via the Landfill Tax for permanent planting. I have tremendous support from the entire community”.
The Landfill Tax helped fund one of Alness’ main projects in 2004 - the improvement of the entrance to the town from the A9 trunk road. A standing stones feature, carved wooden signs, flowers, shrubs and 200 indigenous trees were introduced to welcome visitors who are already drawn to the town by the Britain in Bloom and Scotland in Bloom signs.
From eyesore to play area
Another key project was the smartening up of a piece of land - “an eyesore” according to Carolyn - next to a housing estate. Shilling Hill Park was cleared, seating and a children’s play area was set up and beautiful carved wooden animals dotted about the park, including a 3m (10ft) deer, a 4.5m (15ft) crocodile and giant mushrooms suitable for sitting on.
When asked what the Bloom means to her, she replies,“I get such an immense satisfaction from doing it, seeing the small town I was born and raised in flourish when just a few years ago it was desperately deprived. Through Bloom we have secured a lot of publicity, and now we’re a tourist attraction!”