LEDBURY Nursing Home has won gold in this year’s Ledbury in Bloom competition.

Staff at the home, which is owned and run by Shaw Healthcare, had spent the last 12 months redeveloping its patio and garden area after consulting residents on how they would like to transform the space.

This included extending and cleaning the patio, and installing a new bird bath donated by a former resident. A selection of new shrubs and flowers were planted, and a special raised bed was installed at a height that will enable service users to help take care of the plants.

A panel of judges spent time visiting the home and gardens, and described the newly extended garden and the centre’s hanging baskets as “outstanding”. The team were presented with the gold award at a presentation ceremony at The Burgage Hall in Ledbury.

Ledbury Nursing Home manager Lorraine Cooling said: “We are absolutely delighted to win this gold award. The garden is a very important area to our residents, somewhere they all like to spend time enjoying the flowers and the views over the village. We made sure our residents were involved in the development of the garden from the very start and many of them submitted their own ideas and suggestions.

"Our activity co-ordinator, Anita Kinnear, was also a real driving force behind the transformation, painting colourful artwork along the corridor leading into the garden from the home.

“The judging process was quite thorough, and the team spent a lot of time talking them through the changes that we had made, and how they would benefit our residents," Lorraine added.

"This award is a fantastic recognition of the hard work and creativity everyone at the home has put into making the garden an even more enjoyable place for all our service users. We’re now hoping to develop a sensory garden in the future.

“We held a garden party with a strawberry tea for all the residents, their families and friends when the new garden was finished. We might have to hold another one now that we’ve won this award!"

Ledbury Nursing Home provides respite and nursing care and is part of the Ledbury Community Care Centre. It is one of more than 80 sites operated by Shaw Healthcare, one of the UK’s leading health and social care providers.

Shaw Healthcare provides care for individuals in nursing and residential homes, hospitals, supported living environments and domiciliary care schemes. Its services ranging from comprehensive care packages through to low-level support in the community for older people and adults with physical, sensory or mental health support needs.