Boston has been named I the winner of the Britain in Bloom awards in the East Midland Large Town Category with a score of 180 out of 180, thanks to the support and hard work of offenders on Community Payback.

Jennifer Moore, Environment Supervisor at Boston Borough Council, praised the unpaid work teaming saying: “Both the Borough Council and the Bloom group in Boston would like to say a huge thank you for the contribution Humberside, Lincolnshire & North Yorkshire CRC and your team have made in helping to make this possible.”

Now in its 54th year, the nationwide competition pits rural villages, urban corners and city centres against one another across a range of criteria that includes horticultural know-how, community engagement, efforts to bolster biodiversity and climate change adaptation. Finalists are put forward to the national finals based on their progress locally and following an assessment by a team of Royal Horticultural Society judges.

Alison Fairman, chairman of Boston in Bloom Partnership said: “At the recent presentation to the East Midlands in Bloom judge we emphasised the huge debt of gratitude that we owed Community Payback. The team’s help with maintaining areas such as the community garden and Pilgrim’s Patch has been essential to presenting the town and its green spaces in a positive light, while at the same time making them far more inviting to the community.

“We have been impressed by Humberside Lincolnshire & North Yorkshire CRC’s ability to be flexible, helping with projects such as the Art Deco style garden and the bog garden, often at short notice.

Community Payback in Lincolnshire is managed by the Humberside, Lincolnshire & North Yorkshire Community Rehabilitation Company (HLNY CRC) and aims to rehabilitate offenders through working on projects, nominated by members of the public, that benefit the community.

Nigel Harris, community payback placement coordinator, said: “HLNY CRC and Boston in Bloom work closely in partnership deploying offenders on Community Payback on several projects across the town.

“Our work on Boston in Bloom is a good example of how service users can put something back into the community while learning essential work and life skills which will improve their chances of employment.”

*The Community Payback Team in Humberside, Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire would like to hear about other projects which residents think will make a real difference to their community.