Supporting Charities and our Community

Schools in Bloom Competition

The Meadow Croft Schools in Bloom competition began as a way to support schools in outdoor provisions as well as encouraging children to garden at school and at home. It also offers schools the change to use free plants to brighten up any areas they felt like planting, and to help form the basis for school gardening.

Every year, Meadow Croft invites local schools within a 5 mile radius, to enter the Schools in Bloom Competition. Plants are delivered to the participating schools in early April. School then have until the beginning of July to grow the plants and display them in whatever containers, styles or pots they choose, ready to be judged by the Schools in Bloom panel. The winner receives a £100 Meadow Croft voucher to spend on gardening provisions or plants for their school.

The competition, which is in its 10th year, has seen some amazing efforts from the children.

 

We can now release the winners for 2022. 

1st Place - Hilltop Infant School Wickford 

2nd Place - Edward Francis Rayleigh 

3rd Place - St Mary's C of E Woodham Ferrers

If you are a school staff member or volunteer and would like to enter your school into this year’s competition to be in with the chance of winning a £100 Meadow Croft voucher for your school, please contact Ann on events@meadow-croft.co.uk for more information.


 

Local Schools

Each year we set an allocated budget to help local schools with their fundraising. If you are a member of a local schools PTA group, please get in contact because we may be able to help you with your raffle prizes or gardening donations. Please contact Jane on meadowcroftadmin@wdsmith.com for more information.

Charity Donations

Every year for our festivals or events, we try and incorporate a charity to donate to. In 2017, we donated 10% of all Lavender and Lavender food sales during our Lavender Festival to the Lavender Trust, a charity that helps female cancer patients. In 2018, we managed to raise over £830 for the trust.

For the 2016 German Market, we also created a wishing well for Little Haven’s Hospice, all proceeds from the well went to the charity, and hopefully granted some wishes too. In 2020, we were proud to announce that we manage to raise and donate £4733.58 to the Lennox Children’s Cancer Fund.

We also take part in the National Christmas Jumper Day and Meadow Croft donates £5 to Save the Children for each staff member that wears a jumper to work. In 2021, we raised £136.50!

 

2018 Competition

Every year schools within a 5 mile radius of Meadow Croft are invited to take part in the competition.  Seedlings are delivered in April and the schools grow the plants to produce their gardens ready for judging in July.

The schools this year were asked to come up with themed gardens and they did not disappoint!  The judges said ‘It has been a pleasure to see all the gardens.  The children have clearly worked very hard and their efforts could give Chelsea Flower Show a run for their money!’

First place went to Collingwood School for their 'Collingwood Bay' themed garden, complete with beach, boat and sail shelter.  Well done to all the children and their adult helpers for creating literally something out of nothing!

Second place went to Hilltop Infants for their 'Caring and Sharing Garden'. All the children took a plug plant home to look after until they were ready to plant into their container garden and the containers were all distributed to the neighbouring houses to the school.

Third place went to Little Darwin's Nursery.  The children had created a bath-themed garden and it was very well cared for.

This year, the Meadow Croft Young Gardener of the Year Award for outstanding contributions to school gardening went to Imogen S from Rayleigh Primary School. 

The schools that entered this year were:

Little Darwin's Nursery, Hilltop Infant School, Collingwood Primary School, Woodville Primary School, Our Lady of Ransom Catholic Primary School, East Hanningfield Primary School, Riverside Primary School, Rettendon Primary School and Rayleigh Primary School.

If you are a school staff member or volunteer and would like to enter your school into this year’s competition to be in with a chance of winning a £100 Meadow Croft voucher for your school, please contact Jane for more information on 01245 320314.


Charity Donations

Every year for our festivals or events, we try and incorporate a charity to donate to.  In 2017 we donated 10% of all Lavender and Lavender food sales during our Lavender Festival to the Lavender Trust, a charity that helps female cancer patients. This year we managed to raise over £830 for the trust. 

For the 2016 German Market, we also created a wishing well for Little Haven’s Hospice, and all proceeds from the well went to the charity, and hopefully granted some wishes too.  We also take part in the National Christmas Jumper Day and Meadow Croft donates £5 to Save the Children for each staff member that wears a Christmas jumper to work.

 


Supporting Local Youth Football

We are proud sponsors of South Woodham Ferrers United Y U15 Leopards and we support youth football by providing Meadow Bank Park and football pitch for the youth teams, which is based at Meadow Croft. 




 

Come and choose your festive wreath this weekend!⁠
Handmade on our nursery
Simon, our garden centre manager, advises on the best gardening jobs for December
We have some beautiful table decorations in our Houseplant Department, all perfect for your Christmas table displays
What are you up to this weekend? ⁠
Visit us and pick your Christmas Tree!
❤️ Christmas Poinsettias are now in stock! ❤️⁠

£7.99 each ⁠
Available in our Houseplant Department. ⁠

Tips to a great Poinsettia⁠

❤️Only buy a plant that has not been exposed to draughts as this can cause the leaves to drop suddenly. ⁠

❤️Keep the plant wrapped for the journey home to protect it from the cold. ⁠

❤️Do not overwater or let the plant dry out. Consistent watering is the key to a healthy plant, using tepid water if possible. If the leaves turn yellow or fall off it is incorrectly watered. Only water when the plant is noticeably dry, lift the plant up and if it feels light it needs watering. Watering can be done from the top of the pot or by standing the pot in water for half an hour and then allowing to drain freely.⁠

❤️Poinsettias need warmth and light but must be kept away from draughts including open windows, fireplaces, open doorways etc. ⁠
Temperatures between 15-22 degrees are ideal and preferably placed in a light spot.⁠

#poinsettia #meadowcroftgardencentre #houseplants #festivehouseplants
We stock the very best Nordmann Needle Retentive Christmas Trees!⁠

Come along and hand pick your tree. All trees are unwrapped so you can see the shape and height of each tree.
Santa's Snug ❤️ ⁠

Featuring rich red, gold and green jewel tones, this colour scheme adds an instant Christmas elegance to your home. ⁠

We also have our real Christmas Trees now in stock - come and choose your tree and decorations all in one place!⁠

#meadowcroftgardencentre #christmasdisplays
We only have 6 German Market evenings left!
We’re open tonight, tomorrow (30th) and Friday (1st) until 8pm!

Our final evenings are on the 6th, 7th & 8th December until 8pm.

Browse the German Market stalls
Our final German Market Late Nights are this week! ⁠

We're open until 8pm this evening, Thursday and Friday. ⁠

Come along with friends and family to enjoy a late night shopping experience, as well as German Sausages, Beer or Gluhwein!
⭐️
How to care for your Christmas Tree
The Meadow Croft German Market hosts a Live Music Weekend! ⁠

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