AGM BY ZOOM 2021
Newport and Wormit Chairperson’s Report 2021
This year we faced the challenge of keeping the villages in bloom during Covid, which in spite of all the restrictions we managed to do, planting colourful displays in spring and autumn. And Covid wasn’t the only challenge we faced - in early May, a bus drove onto our planted boat at Boat Brae, demolishing its rear end. Thanks to Mr Hepburn, we managed to effect a temporary repair, and the community rallied round. The council roadsweepers cleared up the mess almost immediately and Wormit Boating Club put out a call for a replacement boat. This was swiftly answered by Davie Anderson of Anderson Marine, who donated and transported a new boat. it Sandy Robertson patched and painted it, and it was installed at the end of summer with Jim Rough and Dave Charles providing the manpower. We are extremely grateful to everyone who contributed to this major undertaking.
In the autumn, we were offered another dinghy by the Gray family of Gauldry - very opportunely as our boat on the corner of Flass Road was really showing its age. Scott Dempster and his workforce assisted Jim in transporting the boat, removing the old one and installing the new, and Jim and Viv Rough did a great job of painting it. Again, our thanks go to everyone who assisted with this project.
Fundraising was an impossibility this year because of Covid, so we were pleased to receive a grant of £250 for each village from Fife Council, and surprised and delighted to receive an additional £873 for each group from the closure of the Flowers in Perpetuity Non-Settlement Trust. We also received many donations from individual supporters for which we are extremely grateful. Without this support we could not do what we do.
As the Newport Festival was cancelled, we were unable to have our usual plant stall to raise our profile and our funds, but in conjunction with Newport traders we ran a sunflower competition in the summer which attracted quite a number of entries. Barbara Bell did a sterling job of keeping our website updated and an eye-catching presence on Facebook throughout the year, and for those not using social media, our noticeboard in the High Street publicises our activities.
The excellent displays we had in our 76 containers wouldn’t have happened without our hardworking committee and our faithful volunteer helpers, who plant, deadhead and water. Marion Todd allows us to use her garden for plant deliveries. Having such a space is enormously helpful. Watering has been undertaken once again by Jim and Viv Rough, ably supported by Sandy Douglas and Adam Olejnik. We are very grateful to all our many helpers, and I would like to thank them all. We were very pleased to recruit several new volunteers last year, and in recent weeks, more have joined our ranks. It goes without saying that the more volunteers, the easier the task, so we are very pleased to welcome them and thank them for stepping up. In Newport, we have been able to allocate each helper either one or a group of planters to adopt, and we hope to do the same in Wormit.
Unfortunately two of our most stalwart members, Jim and Viv Rough, are going to be leaving. They have worked tirelessly for In Bloom since its inception 11 years ago, and they will be very much missed. I would like to thank them most sincerely on behalf of the group, for everything they have done over that time to contribute to our efforts and we wish them all the best in their new home.
Plans for the forthcoming year include increasing the amount of sustainable perennial planting, choosing pollinator friendly plants as much as possible, moving some our tubs to Wormit Bay, and planting the boat at Bridgehead Place with herbs and edible flowers, and I look forward to working with everyone again in the coming months.
Tessa Durham the Chairpersons Report
