COMMUNITY
T
ODIHAM IN BLOOM
hree years ago RAF Odiham became the first military establishment to enter ‘Britain in Bloom’ and
was awarded a Level 3 Developing Certificate in the RHS ‘It’s your Neighbourhood Awards’. The following year RAF Odiham again entered the competition and were awarded the Level 4 Thriving Certificate.
Following on from these successes and keen to do better, RAF Odiham entered the competition once more and in Sep of 2013, WO Joe Lambley-Steel the Service Community Support Officer (SCSO) attended the Annual South and South East Britain in Bloom Awards ceremony at Tunbridge Wells, to collect their Level 5 Outstanding Certificate.
Particular areas of achievement for this award included the ‘Blade Boxes’ on Churchill Avenue; the allotments, Little Wings and the Wildlife, the Memorial Gardens and the Fire and Rescue Memorial Gardens. The new Memorial Garden for Flt Lt Fran Capps who lost her life following an avalanche in the Cairngorms in February last year was given a special mention.
Odiham personnel and family members had this to say:
“It’s less about the gardening and more about working together and taking pride in our surroundings. We need projects like this to enhance our sense of community and bring us together not only as families and individuals but also as part of the RAF family as a whole.”
“The RAF Odiham in Bloom project works in two main ways for us. It is a fantastic initiative to improve our station and accommodation areas, because if it looks
WO Joe Lambley-Steel receiving RAF Odiham’s Out- standing award from BBC Gardener Chris Collins
good we are more likely to feel good. Secondly the project works as a way of keeping families busy outdoors in the fresh air. Working together and being absorbed in small projects like our newly created wildlife garden helps to distract us from the dangers of our deployed loved ones.”
“It’s the families that are more important than any cockpit or number of Chinooks, it doesn’t matter how brave or enthusiastic the guys and girls in uniform are, if they don’t have the support and consent of their families they won’t do it for very long. Events such as this bring together the RAF Odiham community.”
Display at the Chelsea Flower Show 2011
www.raf-ff.org.uk Envoy Spring 2014 55
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