u3a garden wins award at Southport Flower Show
Southport u3a had a large presence at this year's Southport Flower Show, with members designing and building a show garden.
2024 marks the 100th year of Southport Flower Show and, to mark the occasion, the show gardens tracks garden design trends in the last century. The garden featured five different garden styles - Victorian, Post War utilitarian garden, 1960s rockery, 1980s Japanese-themed garden and a present day modern structured garden.
New member Phil Allison designed the garden. He volunteered to design the gardern having only been a u3a member for three weeks. The Flower Show tapped into his existing skills - as in his career, he managed a garden centre and has extensive experience with gardening. Having not designed a garden for over 30 years, the project enabled him to revist his skills.
The show garden was very much a collective effort, with members building structures, growing plants in their gardens, and lending garden furniture to be used in the garden. Southport u3a member Jim says, "It was a lot of hard work and fun. The marquee blew away, our turf got pinched, we got intermittently sunburnt and drenched, learnt a lot from our designer Phil Allison, got quite a bit fitter and made some lovely friends. There was certainly a great deal of learning new skills.'
The garden was well received by the public, with visitors stopping to find out more about the story behind the garden and the u3a movement. The judges were impressed too - and awarded the garden a large gold medal.
Southport u3a's involvement with the Flower Show was not limited to the show garden. Members dressed up in clothes inspired by fashion trends from the last 100 years, to mimic the theme of the show garden, and spoke to visitors about u3a and the impact that joining can have on members' lives. Members from the u3a photography group volunteered to take pictures throughout the three-day event. The u3a choir performed a variety of songs on one of the stages at the events. Members also volunteered in the catering tent of the show, which was managed by u3a member Lisa.
In the lead up to Southport Flower Show, Southport u3a arranged a discount for u3a members. More than 540 u3a members visited the show, from regions as far as Kent, Cheltenham and Northumberland. The attendees included Liz Thackray, Chair of the Third Age Trust and David Blanchflower, Trustee for the North West, who were keen to see the result of Southport u3a's hard work.
The show garden was created with the support of a large national grant from The Third Age Trust, which is available for u3as to use for the purpose of having presence at events that attract a large national events.
This is the third year that Southport u3a has been heavily involved with the Flower Show. Last year, members had a stall in the Societies Marquee, enabling them to spread the word about the u3a movement to members of the public. In 2022, Southport u3a created their first show garden. It was designed and built by the gardening group and showcased the groups at their u3a.
Joining u3a enables you to share your skills in ways you may never previously have expected. Join your local u3a.