Sandwich in Bloom

Our community project

Sandwich is full of historical buildings and surprises around every corner.

We want to enhance the experience of being in Sandwich with natural beauty and hidden gems all around the town.

Our project will benefit the town by:

• Making it an even more attractive place to live and to work in

• Boosting tourist appeal and footfall which, in turn, will impact on local businesses.

• Building a stronger sense of civic pride through community participation. Volunteers will be our lifeblood on such activities as preparation, planting, watering and maintenance.

Concern for the environment is paramount. It’s not just about flowers but also the way we go about our business. For example:

• Wherever pre-existing displays are upgraded, we re-cycle soil, plants and bulbs for use elsewhere. Allotment holders and Sandwich Library have been among the beneficiaries.

• Our bought-in barrier troughs have inbuilt reservoirs and capillary liners to keep watering requirements to a minimum.

• We refurbish older planters and redundant barrels to give them a new lease of life.

• Many of next year’s new containers will be commissioned from reclaimed wood.

As we move forward, biodiversity will be a key element in our planning.

The recently refurbished Quay is an area enjoyed by many visitors and locals and along with the Guildhall is one of our principal sites.

In addition to the Sandwich in Bloom team a group of volunteers at St Peter’s Church (scroll down the page), the chain gang, are working hard and have made the area around the church a beautiful environment to walk through and relax in. They have bird, bat & bug boxes to lend a helping hand to our wildlife.

The team of volunteers at St Clement’s Church are restoring the churchyard to its former glory, and so it too is a wonderful space that everyone can enjoy in Sandwich. They also have bird and bat boxes.

We have a special link with Age Concern and in particular the dementia group who have taken responsibility for planting and watering two large apple crates that have been placed next to their entrance point.

Children at Merry Go Round Pre-School planted bulbs under the willow trees at the Quay and Sandwich Infants planted at St Peters supervised by Chris Day.

We are encouraging wild flower verges to be developed around the town and are hoping to work with KCC and DDC on this.

We encourage everyone to enjoy the beauty all around our town and enhance it in any way they can, some ideas are on our volunteer page.

You can view the SiB constitution here Download