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Date: 29^thAugust 2017 

Competition highlights horticultural skills of SARH customers

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A shared garden in Barlaston has been transformed into an oasis of tranquillity and colour thanks to the efforts of two community-spirited customers of Stafford and Rural Homes (SARH).

A beautiful pond, complete with koi carp, orfe and goldfish, is at the heart of the garden that's earned a brace of awards for James Brown and Matthew Toddington.

Since moving into an apartment in Flaxman Close, they've set about creating a stunning environment that's won the praise of judges in the housing association's annual gardens competition.

In their summing up of the entry in the Best Back Garden category of the awards, the judges said they were taken aback by the outstanding design and passion that had gone into creating the garden.

In addition to scooping the Best Back Garden Award, James, 26, and 30-year-old Matthew were jointly presented with the Community Gardener of the Year Award during a special event at SARH's headquarters in Parker Court, Stafford.

On collecting the awards, James said: "When we entered the awards we never expected to be amongst the winners, and hearing our names read out was quite an emotional experience!"

"We're particularly pleased about winning the Community Gardeners title as it shows that other people appreciate our efforts. When we first moved in, a lot of our neighbours were elderly and unable to maintain the garden themselves and we were only too happy to do it for them."

James, who works as an administrator in the education sector, said they want to create a garden with distinct ‘zones' where other residents of the apartment block could chill out, read or just enjoy the spectacular water feature.

"I've no previous gardening experience and work on the principle that if something doesn't grow within a few weeks of planting, dig it up and move it somewhere else!" he added.

Helping to hand out other accolades at the SARH Garden Awards were the Mayors of Stafford and Stone, Cllr Aidan Godfrey and Cllr Jim Davies, whilst guests enjoyed a presentation by Chris Brown of Stafford Borough Council's Streetscene team on the art of creating floral flag parks. Richard Upton, the Council's Health and Wellbeing Community Development Officer, also provided an update on a successful anti-litter campaign.

Other awards presented on the day included:

• Best Front Garden - Mr and Mrs Murfin, Great Haywood

• Best Wildlife/Eco Garden - Mr Ferrari, Stafford

• Most Creative Use of Space - Mr and Mrs Elkin, Haughton

• Shirley Wheat Award for Best Communal Garden - Lichfield Court, Stafford

• Best Allotment Site - Brookhouse Drive Community Allotment, Barlaston

• Best Allotment Plot - Miss Smith, Priory Road Community Allotment, Stone

• Young Gardener of the Year - Aaron Hawkins

Karen Armitage, SARH Chief Executive, commented: "Once again this event highlighted the commitment and passion many of our customers have for creating beautiful spaces around their homes.

"I'm always amazed at their horticultural skills, and this year has been no exception, with the judges facing some difficult choices. A huge well done to all who took part.

"I'd also like to thank the speakers and our sponsors for their continued support for what has become one of the highlights of our year."

Caption: James Brown, winner of the Best Back Garden Award and Community Gardener of the Year Award.

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About Stafford and Rural Homes

Stafford and Rural Homes (SARH) is the largest social landlord in Stafford with around 6,000 homes across Stafford, Stone and the rural villages across the Borough. Established in 2006 to own and manage the former Stafford Borough Council housing stock, SARH set up a trading subsidiary company Housing Worx, to deliver planned maintenance works to its properties and fulfil commercial contracts in 2012. SARH also offers 18 Independent Living schemes for people aged over 55 and an award winning Telecare home safety and personal security system for the elderly and vulnerable. SARH has invested more than £100 million on improvement and regeneration programmes and building over 500 high quality new homes for rent and shared ownership which have benefited SARH customers by improving neighbourhoods and creating job opportunities for local people. The housing association works in partnership with local authorities, health trusts, statutory bodies and a range of voluntary organisations to create safe, sustainable communities where residents can ‘Live, Work and Grow'.

Follow SARH on Twitter@SARHomes

Media contact:

Martin Farrow

CHANGEWORKS Communications
t:  + 44 (0) 1785 247588

m: +44 (0)7771 970025

e: mfarrow@changeworkscom.co.uk

Stafford and Rural Homes contact:

Mara Hargreaves
Marketing Manager

t:01785 216793 (Direct) 

m:07800 619 863 (Mobile)  

e:mara.hargreaves@sarh.co.uk