Green-fingered youngsters from a Swansea school have defied heartless vandals who smashed up their garden to lift a prestigious Swansea in Bloom trophy.
The pupils of Blaen y Maes Primary School took the David Franklin Cup for the best school garden in a close contest with Cila Primary School, who have won for the past two years.
The competition is sponsored by Swansea’s Quadrant Shopping Centre and Quadrant Manager Ian Kirkpatrick visited the school to congratulate the gardeners of the future.
He said: “There is always a wonderful standard in this competition and Blaen y Maes have had to be very good to hold off the challenge of Cila – both gardens were fantastic and the judges must have had a difficult time separating them.
“But considering that they had to overcome an attack by vandals the children here at Blaen y Maes are worthy winners and we’re delighted to back such a great competition – I’m hoping to pick up a few tips from them for my garden.”
School caretaker Alison Williams, Teaching Assistant at Blaen y Maes and Leader of the Gardening Club, said: “We have entered for a couple of years now and we’ve made our way up into the Premier Division of the schools competition.
“Last year we were second and this time we’ve gone one better even though we’ve had vandals here who broke our poly tunnel and caused as lot of damage – the children were very upset.
“But they dug in and they showed their fighting spirit and were determined to do it and they have.
“The theme was Dylan Thomas because it’s the centenary if his birth and they’ve worked hard and found out a lot about him.
“We’ve concentrated on the wildlife aspect here in the garden and everyone has been involved from our two-year-olds to the junior pupils of 11 – the little ones loved going out to water the plants.
“We’ve planted lots of flowers and we also have vegetables and are part of the Grow Local scheme.”
Leighton Evans, Chairman of Swansea in Bloom, said: “It was quite a difficult theme but the standard was very high once again.
“I’m pleased for Blaen y Maes because they’ve struggled with being vandalised a few times.
“Someone donated a poly tunnel for them and they had built a greenhouse out of plastic bottles and then the vandals came and smashed them.
“But they didn’t even tell the judges about that or put it in their portfolio. We only found out after we had done the judging.”
Anna Rippin, Marketing Manager for the Quadrant Shopping Centre, said: “Cila have really set the standard in recent years and Blaen y Maes have been narrow but worthy winners this time.
“It’s such a good competition and Swansea is a wonderful city for flowers with the Council providing wonderful floral displays around the Quadrant and elsewhere so we are delighted to support Swansea in Bloom.”
