Partnership Working in Colchester

Our role

Our team is made up of approximately 50 staff who carry out a wide range of grounds maintenance works to the Borough’s parks, green spaces, cemeteries, and highways, including grass cutting, hedge cutting, border maintenance, grave digging, tree maintenance and weed spraying.

The company also takes care of Colchester’s sports grounds, including football, rugby, and cricket pitches, bowling greens, and hard and grassed tennis courts.  We also undertake allotments maintenance and provide an assisted gardening scheme for Colchester Homes.

Two apprentices are employed on the contract and experience a wide range of grounds maintenance tasks while studying towards a horticultural qualification.

Achievements

idverde is extremely pleased to have contributed to Colchester’s success in 2016’s RHS Britain in Bloom Awards, where the city collected a Silver Gilt in the Small City category, a feat which was also achieved in 2017’s competition.

This followed hot on the heels of the success in the regional Anglia in Bloom awards, where Colchester picked up the Gold Award in the City (35,001—200,000 residents) Category, with further Gold Awards for Castle Park, and High Woods County Park (which was also named overall winner in the Parks over 10 acres category). Colchester Cemetery also received a Silver Gilt.

A key area maintained under the contract is Colchester’s popular Castle Park. The park is registered as Grade II on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special and Historic Interest and has been recognised with the Green Flag Green Heritage Award. In 2018, idverde received a British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI) National Award in recognition of the high standards of grounds maintenance in the park.

Castle Park is home to an annual display of 3D bedding, which is designed collaboratively each year by idverde’s Colchester Contract Manager, Andrew Fulcher and our Colchester Borough Council client officers.

Recent creations have included a bee-themed design, which received the accolade of winning the award for Best Local Authority Floral Display in the Anglia in Bloom competition, a stunning 3-D bedding design commemorating 125 years of the park and all who have contributed to its care.

Community partnerships

idverde is keen to involve local communities in the areas it maintains, and Colchester is no exception. In addition to our close links with the local ‘in bloom’ groups, we are also involved in volunteering activities, including working with the Friends of Castle Park and other local volunteers to carry out tasks such as planting and wildlife habitat creation in Castle Park.

Since 2017 we have sponsored Colchester Borough Council’s ‘Trees for Years’ scheme.  This popular annual event sees over 2,000 trees and fruit bushes given away free to local residents, community and volunteer groups, schools and town/parish councils.  Plants given away include silver birch, hazel, and dogwood trees, along with raspberry, gooseberry, blackcurrant, and lavender bushes.