Avocet Court in Ipswich were celebrating this week as they retained the Athena In Bloom Overall Winners spade for the second year.
We want to honour all our homes for their Athena In Bloom work this year – entries were of a very high standard giving the judges a difficult task and superb efforts which have been made to improve and maintain our outside spaces for everyone.
Thank you all for your hard work on Athena in Bloom this year. We were so pleased to see that across the Athena family you’ve been building foundations for future years and sowing the seeds of longer term projects. We know that your hard work has made a huge difference to our resident’s experience this summer, so thank you to everyone who got involved.
The winners were –
1 – Best First Impression – Avocet Court
We wanted you to wow our residents and visitors when they arrive at our homes. Having that positive impression of our home from the second they arrive is so important and can make all the difference.
Our winners wowed the judges from the second we turned into the home. Putting our tagline front and centre and giving visitors a memorable entrance to the home, which was followed up beautiful floral displays on each community.
2 – Best Sensory Garden – Goodwins Hall
We wanted to see unique extras going into the gardens to stimulate senses other than just sight, we asked you to think about other additions to the garden which are stimulating for sight, smell, sound and touch.
Goodwins Hall showcased a full year of activities making the most of all of the senses through each of the seasons.
3 – Best Garden Showpiece – Aria Court
We have amazing spaces in our gardens, but what really makes it unique or brings an area to life. We wanted to see how you could wow our resident’s loved ones on their visits and create exceptional areas for our residents to enjoy.
Aria Court won this award in recognition of the huge amount of work done to improve the aesthetics in their central gardens, improving the outlooks across a variety of their gardens and the refurbishment of their pergola.
4 – Best Gardening Club – Aria Court
We want every home to have a regular, varied and fun gardening club which offers our residents something unique in their day.
The Happy Potters at Aria bring a smile to everyone’s face, our residents were very proud of their garden and love showing everyone around. It is evident that a lot of thought goes into ensuring that our residents are involved in the gardens and projects around the home. The Happy Potters have regular trips to the local garden centre and there is a huge amount of passion and comradery around the club. This year’s winners offer a remarkable weekly club that our residents love.
5 – Best Festive Garden – Avocet Court
While gardens traditionally look their best in summer, there is so much we can do with our outdoor space year round. We wanted to see your take on this for the Best Festive Garden category.
Avocet Court made a real garden celebration this year with a Christmas lights turn on which got the whole community talking and received praise from their local MP.
6 – Best Spring Garden – Goodwins Hall
We wanted you to show what the different seasons can bring to the garden as everything wakes up from the winter.
At Goodwins Hall the gardens really sprung into life with the arrival of spring. With colour everywhere, new bird boxes were made and installed across the gardens, every opportunity taken to encourage our residents outside into the gardens.
7 – Best Allotment – Langdon House
We wanted to see how you made it either immaculate, full to the brim or just full of variety.
Langdon House created a fantastic allotment from scratch and won this award in recognition of the creative planting solutions using pallets and for the scale of what was established at the home in less than a year as part of the Athena family.
8 – Best Use of Flowers and homegrown produce – Goodwins Hall
We wanted you to make the most of the fruits of your labours and give your wider team a chance to showcase their skills.
At Goodwins there is a huge amount of resident involvement with bud vases as well as a huge haul of medals and awards from a local horticultural show.
9 – Best Wildlife Conservation Project – Avocet Court
We wanted you to show us how you’re delivering real conservation at work and how you’re supporting nature for future generations.
In previous years the team at Avocet Court have worked with local wildlife trusts, this year they continued the theme of really understanding what natural assets they have in their garden.
10 – Best Sustainability Initiative – Ashlynn Grange
We all need to do our bit to make sure future generations have a world they can enjoy. We asked our homes to come up with small ideas which will add up.
At Ashlynn Grange the team continued their previous efforts with composting at the home, while adding upcycled pallet planters which the residents loved, and a really unique and innovative irrigation system to keep plants watered throughout the year installed on the fencing.
11 – Best Community Volunteer Project – Avocet Court
Our homes love to develop links with the local community. We wanted to see those links used to great effect in your gardens.
Avocet Court continued to develop their community links with the Brownies and schools, but they also managed and maintained a huge amount of engagement from loved ones and our team in our garden. Their work was the definition of a whole home and community approach to Athena in Bloom.
12 – Best Progress Journey – Alex Wood House
We wanted to see the progress made through this year’s competition. All our homes have different strengths when it comes to the garden so we wanted to take a look at the bigger picture with this category.
Alex Wood House joined the Athena family last September and has made exceptional progress getting their gardens tidy and ready to progress. We can’t wait to see what they achieve from their foundations next year.
13 – Tallest Sunflower – Goodwins Hall
Just for fun – we all love a tallest sunflower competition. There were some really good sunflowers across the group – we don’t know what they feed their sunflowers at Goodwins Hall, but with a 2 storey tall set of sunflowers they scooped the trophy.
14 – Overall Winner – Avocet Court
This year the competition was really fierce. The improvements across our homes were tangible and a huge thank you from all of us for your hard work. But, for the way the Avocet Court used this competition to enhance their care, build relationships and deliver truly unique opportunities for our residents, we had to award them the Athena In Bloom winners spade for the second year.
Congratulations everyone and here’s to Athena in Bloom 2025
