‘Beautiful place to live’ - Judges visit Monkton Village for the Northumbria in Bloom competition
Monkton Village is hoping to have impressed competition judges for the 2026 Northumbria in Bloom.
Judges from the 2026 Northumbria in Bloom have paid to a visit to Monkton Village as volunteers bid to become the winners of the competition.
The Monkton Village Association (MVA) volunteers hosted Britain in Bloom judges, Kate Osborne MP and Cllr Sheryl Jones on Thursday morning (July 23) as they walked around the village to showcase their floral efforts.
The competition looks to encourage and reward community groups who work together to transform their local areas through gardening, environmental awareness and community support.
Over the last year, volunteers have given their time through fundraising and horticultural activity as they looked to bring Monkton Village into bloom.
The result has seen bright and colourful flowers planted throughout Monkton Village and residents taking better care of their own gardens - with plans from the MVA to take it even further next year.
‘It’s a beautiful place to live’
Gerry Fionda, Chair of the Monkton Village Association, has expressed his pride in the team who have worked all year round to ensure that Monkton Village is in bloom.
He said: “As a group, we are a team of equals who all work to make the village nicer.
“There has been a lot of work put in with the plants this year and we’ve been helped by the local authority who provided some disused planters.
“We go out through the year, sometimes every night, and the team have done exceptionally well.
“Local residents have now come onboard and they’ve been looking after their own gardens more.
“The main area of the drive has been for the Northumbria in Bloom competition and I’m proud of what we’ve done.
“A lot of hard work has gone in and anyone who looks at the flowers can see that - I think we’ve done exceeding well.
“It’s a beautiful place to live and we’re really fortunate of where we live, this is our home.
“This year is the best I can ever remembering seeing the village and I’ve lived here for 53 years - it is really coming back to what it used to be.”
Support from South Tyneside Council
Cllr Sheryl Jones, of the Monkton ward, has praised the efforts of the volunteers at the Monkton Village Association and has vowed that the local authority will continue to support them where possible.
She commented: “I’m really impressed with the dedication and the work that the volunteers do - it is amazing to see.
“It’s great to see a community working so hard together to produce such a beautiful environment for the public.
“The volunteers were telling me on the walk round that they’re concerned about trees and whether or not they could be trimmed back so I’m going to look into that for them.
“The Monkton Village Association wants to keep the local area looking beautiful and we [South Tyneside Council] want to assist them in anyway that we can.
“This is an example of how communities working together can produce such beautiful results.
“It has been a wonderful experience to meet such wonderful people who have all made me feel so welcome.”
The Monkton Village Association won’t know the results of the 2026 Northumbria in Bloom competition for a number of weeks - with an awards ceremony set to take place in September 2026.