Cumbrian vet practice wins Britain in Bloom award

A vet practice has become the first business in the country to win a new title at this year’s Britain in Bloom Awards.

Paragon Veterinary Group won the Royal Horticultural Society’s new national Sustainable Gardening award – the latest in a string of green accolades – for its well-being gardens at surgeries in Dalston and Newbiggin.

Gardeners’ World’s Frances Tophill presented a framed certificate and trophy at the ceremony, held at Old Trafford stadium, Manchester.

Commitment

Laura Binnie, small animal vet and sustainability lead at Paragon, said: “When we set out to create well-being gardens for our staff to enjoy, and to do it as sustainably as we could, we never thought it would go this far.”

The award recognises commitment to sustainable environmental practices in horticulture and supporting wildlife through gardening.

The gardens feature bee and insect hotels, bird feeders, bat boxes and robin hides, plus plants for pollinators and long grass suitable to hedgehogs. The Dalston garden has a bog garden and pond, and children from St Michael’s Primary School visit to plant trees and scatter wildlife seeds.

Next project

Next up for Paragon, its most ambitious project to date is a three-hectare native broadleaf woodland at Newbiggin, where – with a grant from Forestry England – it is creating a wildflower meadow and reinstating hedgerows.

It is rare a business rather than a community or charity wins a Britain in Bloom award, but the practice puts a great emphasis on sustainability and has previously become a national environment champion in the Investors in the Environment Awards and green veterinary practice of the year win the Veterinary Green Awards.

Mrs Binnie, senior director David Black and centre manager Diane Armstrong – all three part of Paragon’s 15-strong “Green Group” – attended the Manchester ceremony.