Welly Road Gets the Boot In! for a big community plant

Hursts get their tiered stand so check it out when you go and get your hot cross buns

Stacey taking care of the plants

Yesterday, I picked up the stands (made from old pallets) from Cornerstone Vocational Training Centre in Birkenhead to start putting the wellies together for Hursts Bakery. I chose red, black and green wellies for them to fit with their distinctive bright red paint work. We decided to put the stand in an used doorway on the cafe side of the business. The staff seemed thrilled that they have their plants as the excitment about the new project is building. We are just waiting for one stand for The Hair Lounge to be completed. The others are being stored at SDA Survey and Design in their yard. Gary in the Festival Flowers has been working on his own ideas and think we may see it very soon...great!

Thanks to Darren from The Coffee Shop and Lloyd from Simply Food and Drinks for helping move the stands into position, they were too heavy for me!

Barb from Streaks Ahead has been doing a great job sweeping and tidying. Thankfully, the back alley has remained tidy for over a week now. We are expecting our planter from Wirral Council any time now but until then other plants have been appearing around the shops and a pair of concrete welly boots with foxgloves and periwinkle in is overseeing it all from the first house after the shops.

We have been getting loads of wellies through the Green Community Shop and Centre in Oxton Village on Christchurch Road but we have been getting also loads through the dumps.....I have got to have enough wellies for the 7 stands still to do and then the pairs for each householder so don't stop giving us your wellies we still need them so we can be "welly" good. So find a welly wheelie bin at Clatterbridge, Bidston or West Kirby dumps (thanks to Veolia Environmental Services) or take them to The Green Shop in Oxton Village or to The Coffee Shop on Wellington Road (in fact any of the businesses on Wellington Road as they are as keen as me to get this done) It has already started bonding the businesses and building the community spirit.

I am planning to create some bunting from plastic material used for creating bouncy castles that I have seen at The Play Council in Birkenhead for some of the businesses. We want each business to develop it's own style on their stands. Each shop has been given a watering can for them to take care of the plants.

The Coffee Shop gets in on the community spirit

Darren who runs The Coffee Shop on Wellington Road came and had a chat today about having a community plant for local homes for adults with special needs. Great idea!

So the plan is on Sunday at 3pm after he has closed the cafe, the residents of the homes will come and plant a welly or two. He wants to go with red, white and blue colours so will sort the wellies and plants to suit his theme and planning to make some bunting to add to the festive feel. He is thinking ahead about the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics.

Paul Doughty from SDA survey and design has helped collected the stands created by Cornerstone Vocational Training.

A new neighbour has moved into one of the flats above the shops and has helped cleaning the back alley behind the shops, and inspired me to finish it off taking stuff that had been fly-tipped and buddleia branches to the recycling plant at Bidston - combining it with collecting wellies from the Welly Wheelie Bin that Veolia have placed strategically as you come into the sorting bays...last time I was there I got 8 pairs of wellies. Derry Hunter, a local artist and gardener has also been helping collecting the wellies when she drops off garden waste. Her last haul was 16 pairs of wellies from Clatterbridge recycling plant. Everytime, I go into The Green Community Shop and Centre, Jo announces she has wellies for me.

Hoping to do another community plant with a local Beavers troop and waiting to hear from Rainbows and Brownies at the local church.