Bloom cash joy
Plans to improve town’s Coronation Corner
The hard-working volunteers behind Blair in Bloom have expressed their delight after the group scooped £4000-worth of funding.
The money has been secured through the Bags of Help project, which is a partnership between supermarket giant Tesco and Groundwork.
Blair in Bloom secretary Mary Birch said everyone connected to the group was delighted to receive the boost.
Plans are in place to improve the Coronation Corner area on Croft Lane, with new hard landscaping, planters and an information board giving the history of the site in the pipeline.
Mary said: “We rely totally on fundraising so receiving this grant is fantastic.
“We’re going to put in some bespoke containers and trellis and an information board about the history of the area.
“Before the coronation in 1953, there was a building on the corner known as Mulligan’s Mansion which was rumoured to be a ‘house of ill repute’ - in Blairgowrie, can you believe!
“There’s a lot more investigating needed but that’s what the plan is.”
The Bags of Help initiative sees grants raised from the 5p bag levy.
Thousands of community projects benefit every year, with Greenspace Scotland working with Groundwork to provide support to communities across the country.
Tony McElroy, Tesco’s head of communications in Scotland, said: “Bags of Help has been a fantastic success.
“We’ve been overwhelmed by the response from our customers.
“The great thing about Bags of Help is that local people are invited to decide how the money will be spent in their community. We can’t wait to see the projects come to life.”
Voting ran in stores throughout May and June, with customers choosing which local project they would like to get the top award using a token given to them at the check-out.
Since launching in 2015, Bags of Help has awarded more than £33million across more than 6300 local projects.
• Meanwhile, a special general meeting of Blair in Bloom is to be held as chair Helen McCann prepares to step down from her role.
The gathering will be held on Tuesday, September 5, from 7.30pm in the meeting room at Blairgowrie Fire Station and all interested parties are welcome to attend.
If you are interested in volunteering with Blair in Bloom, please email blairinbloom@aol.com for further information.