Witney Town Council is delighted to announce the winners of this year’s Schools in Bloom Wheelbarrow Competition, held as part of the 2025 Witney Carnival celebrations.
This annual event, which continues to grow in creativity and community spirit, invited our local primary schools to take part in a garden design challenge based on the theme of “Fairytale Gardens.” This year also featured a special guest entry from The Ice Centre.
Each participating school was tasked with creating a garden within a wheelbarrow, using eco-friendly materials and plastic-free components.
After the event, the wheelbarrows are donated to local care homes– a gesture that has proven both popular and meaningful to residents and carers alike, building connections between generations.
Despite the scorching heat on Saturday 12th July, nearly 400 members of the public took part in the voting, helping to decide this year’s People’s Choice Award. Judges were once again impressed by the high standard of entries, which featured pollinator-friendly plants, beautifully handcrafted details, and imaginative interpretations of the theme.
This year’s winners are:
- Mayor’s Choice: Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School
Selected by Mayor Councillor Andy Bailey, this fern-filled garden featured an enchanting natural setting with tiny wooden fairy figures.
- People’s Choice Award: Windrush Primary School
Their entry, The Secret Garden, captured the hearts of Carnival visitors and received the most votes on the day.
- Most Unusual Garden: Madley Brook Primary School
Independent community judges awarded this award for their imaginative and whimsical recreation of a fairy school playground.
The Mayor will visit the winning schools in September to present their awards in person, and in recognition of their brilliant efforts and creativity, all participating schools will also receive a token of appreciation from Witney Town Council.
Cllr Thomas Ashby, Chair of Stronger Communities said,
“What an incredible display of talent at this year’s Bloom Wheelbarrow Competition! A massive thank you to all the local primary schools that joined in. This annual competition truly sparks the creativity and ‘green fingers’ of our young students. A special shout-out and congratulations go to Our Lady of Lourdes, Windrush CofE Primary School, and Madley Brook Primary School for their absolutely fabulous, award-winning wheelbarrows!
These delightful creations are now set to brighten spirits across Witney, finding new homes in our local care homes and community centres, where they’ll be lovingly tended to by other members of our community. The Witney Carnival always brings us together for a wonderful celebration, and this year’s Schools in Bloom competition certainly added to that community spirit. Well done, everyone!”
Each barrow has now been delivered by our operations team to local care homes and community centres, where they will continue to bring colour and joy over the summer months.
Witney Town Council thanks all schools, staff, pupils, and supporters for making Schools in Bloom 2025 another resounding success!
