This summer Ignite Elim Church teamed up with several local community groups and Pennell’s Garden Centre to bring the city of Lincoln its in bloom contest.

In previous years the competition was ran by the city council’s Neighbourhood Working Teams who has been doing a great job, but with the cut in budgets over the past few years, Ignite Church have been asked to carry on the competition.

Ignite Church Pastor, Rev. Darren Edwards, said: “It’s a real privilege to be able to host such a lovely event in the city, and this year there have been so many great gardens that it’s been really hard to pick a winner.”

So how does the competition work?

In previous years the Neighbourhood Working Teams have ran separate events on each estate, meaning that we have seen several winners across the city, but this year Ignite Church wanted to encourage cohesion and inclusivity across the whole city, so as well as a few of the estates being represented with their local in bloom contest, there was also a Lincoln in Bloom winner.

We ran Birchwood in bloom, Ermine in Bloom, Moorland in Bloom, and St Giles in Bloom. Then we also had a city-wide Lincoln in Bloom competition too. On each of these four estates we have a £50 prize for the winning garden and a £25 prize for the most outstanding garden. The most outstanding garden is a special prize for that garden that stands out most in its street, improving the ascetic feel of its street. As you can guess the overall winner on the estate is the highest marked garden out of a short list of categories.

We would like to say a special thank you to Birchwood Big Local and Pennell’s Garden Centre who have helped Ignite Church to provide the prize vouchers for this event.

The winners…

Birchwood in Bloom: Winner of £50 voucher: Robert Kalenczuk, from Larchwood Crescent  |  Most Outstanding, £25 voucher: Richard Whillock, from Nightingale Crescent.

Ermine in Bloom: Winner of £50 voucher: Y Carr, from Woodhall Drive  |  Most Outstanding, £35 voucher: Mr Myers, Auburn Avenue.

Moorland in Bloom: Winner of £50 voucher: Beata Gabinska, from Westwick Gardens  |  Most Outstanding, £25 voucher: Michael Stevens, from Cotman Road.

St Giles in Bloom: Winner of £50 voucher: Denise Hinch, from Oval Approach  |  Most Outstanding, £25 voucher: Jane Murphy, from Browning Drive.

And finally, congratulations to the big winner of Lincoln City in Bloom is Denise Hinch from Oval Approach who wins our £100 Pennell’s voucher.

We’ll be running Lincoln in Bloom in 2019 too, and as per usual the contest will be free to enter, and just like Denise Hinch you too have the chance to win £150 of Pennell’s vouchers. Simply visit our in bloom page and nominate yourself, your friend or your neighbour from in bloom 2019.

Good luck and God bless you as you enjoy and cultivate the wonderful creation that God has put in front of us.