Plymouth campaign goes wild!

Plymouth’s Grow Wild campaign has gone wild on the web, on twitter and in the streets but time is running out as voting ends on midnight of Tuesday 4 November.

Now the Council and its partners are asking for one last push to get the City to Sea the votes it needs to get wildflowers planted from North Cross to the Hoe as part of the city’s bid to be Grow Wild’s English flagship and receive £120,000 of Big Lottery Funding.

Plymouth has enjoyed a poetic show of support from the city’s poet laureate who has written a poem urging people to vote for the scheme.

In and around the city flowery beards are being worn in support of the campaign, and partners Fotonow have been snapping the results.

And across the city from schools and colleges to work places and in the streets, people have been rallying to the call to vote.

Councillor Brian Vincent, Cabinet member for the Environment said: “It’s been a fun campaign and has really taken off.

“We’ve had people donning beards made up of flowers posing for pictures, lots of support from organisations across the city as well as from overseas – all getting behind Plymouth’s campaign.

We are on the last leg of the campaign as the voting ends on Tuesday, so if you haven’t, vote for City to Sea. It’s really easy!”

To vote for Plymouth’s City to Sea project online go to vote.growwilduk.com or by phone on 0808 228 7701. If you have a land line, you can actually phone three times – so all members of the family can vote.

A carpet of poppies leading up to the Hoe is one idea in the project which aims to reinvigorate the city centre with a striking kilometre-long green corridor to open up and reconnect views along the bustling Armada Way and inspire and enthuse commuters, shoppers and visitors, and encourage interaction between businesses.

Supported by the Big Lottery Fund and led by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Grow Wild inspires communities, friends, neighbours and individuals across the UK to come together to transform local spaces, by sowing, growing and enjoying native wild flowers.

If successful, the City to Sea’s wild flower planting could transform the plain North Cross entrance to the city with a palate of native wild flowers and even fruit that passers-by will be encouraged to pick and enjoy.

Other slightly more unusual shows of support include a film by Plymouth Ukulele Players, a flashmob, bearded cheerleaders from Plymouth Raiders, students and staff from Plymouth University and the College of St Mark and St John have also really got into the swing of the campaign as have Plymouth Community Homes

Friends from abroad have chipped in to lend a hand including friends in Italy, South Arica ‘Edge of Africa’ environmental organisation, Colombia, Japan as well as America – particularly Plymouth, Massachusetts and Orlando, Florida.