Green-fingered volunteers go for gold

Volunteers both young and old are on tenterhooks waiting to find out if their town has won a Yorkshire in Bloom gold award for the sixth time.

The Mirfield in Bloom group was set up in 2017, with a plan to spruce up the former mining town in West Yorkshire.

Since then, the team has won five golds in the regional contest and a silver gilt in Britain in Bloom, while this year, it is competing against four other towns.

One of the volunteers, 15-year-old Carmel, said: "I think it's really important to get involved in the community and get your hands in and see what impact it has on others."

Carmel is one of 10 teenagers in the 35-strong group, and joined the team as part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme.

She was then asked to become the youngest member of the group's committee.

"I think you gain a lot from it yourself, especially at my age - life skills, social skills, meeting new people, forming those connections," she said.

Yorkshire in Bloom is an annual competition celebrating gardens at venues ranging from pubs to railway stations to tourist attractions.

Mirfield is competing against Elloughton Cum Brough, Keighley, Knaresborough and Todmorden in the towns category.

It is also one of the 44 finalists in this year's RHS Britain in Bloom Awards.

Like Carmel, 14-year-old Isaac joined the group as part of the Duke of Edinburgh scheme.

He said: "During the last school year and over the summer we came to help out.

"You do volunteering for three months, but I think I'll stay on because I've met such lovely people."

Isaac said he thought the team's chances of winning gold at both competitions were "definitely very high".

The green-fingered volunteers are led by Mirfield in Bloom's founder Ruth Edwards - described by fellow members as "a woman who gets things done".

Ruth, 84, said she was inspired to set up the group when she saw hanging baskets and planters in Hebden Bridge.

The retired teacher said: "I thought, why can't Mirfield look like this?

"We've got the river, we've got the canal, why don't we go for it?"

Ruth said she was told by a local councillor, "you'll never do it lass" - but that only made her more determined.

Eight years and five golds later, she said she would be "absolutely over the moon" if the town won again.

"But at the end of the day, we do it for the people," she added.

Team members are expected to find out if they have won a Yorkshire in Bloom award again this year at a ceremony in Tadcaster on Thursday.

The RHS Britain in Bloom winners will be announced in Brighton in October, where Mirfield in Bloom is a finalist in the large town category.

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