Many different groups work voluntarily throughout the year to keep Prestatyn looking it’s best for both residents and visitors alike.
The Prestatyn and District Environmental Association was formed in 2003 and meets regularly to plan improvements for the Town. Members of this group attend the Prestatyn in Bloom meetings on a regular basis and have helped to complete a variety of projects. PDEA apply regularly for grants securing substantial amounts of money on a yearly basis to help improve Prestatyn and the surrounding areas. Their aim is to ensure green spaces are more accessible for all. Their achievements include – Coed y Morfa Community Woodland, Protection and development of the Gronant Sand dunes, Bluebell Wood maintenance and development. The group also hold many events to encourage residents to visit the beautiful green areas of Prestatyn. This year the PDEA were successful in gaining a Green Flag Award for the Coed y Morfa Community Woodland. The PDEA also have carried out numerous litter picks around the town.
The Horticultural Society meet on a regular basis and have taken ownership of Pendre Gardens. They carry out regular litter picks and general maintenance of the gardens. The Society also holds regular educational workshops for members of the public to attend and have an active role in Prestatyn Flower Show events.
Volunteers from a visually impaired group that meet on a regular basis in the Scala have taken on the maintenance and planting of a large seating planter in the High Street. Highly scented plants are being used.
The Community payback team and the Youth Justice Service have carried out many jobs throughout Prestatyn including watering of the flower beds, removing graffiti, cleaning up the public bins and removing fly posters. The Community Payback team have also helped cleaning and mending any broken street furniture and they have most recently created wooden planters which have been placed at the bottom of the High Street by the Railway Station.
The Denbighshire County Council Street Scene Team maintain the sustainable shrubs beds throughout the town, mow the lawns, litter pick, remove graffiti. This year the team has been faced with further reductions and have unfortunately lost their premises in the town centre due to DCC making efficiencies within the Council as a whole. This has meant that the Street Scene Team have struggled to complete the task they would normally have done in the timescales required but have worked extra hours to prepare the town.
Pictured are a few members of the Prestatyn in Bloom Committee that meet regularly throughout the year to work on different projects within the town, ensure constant improvement from the Hillside to the beach and everything in between. They work to ensure
Friends of the Ffrith are a dedicated hardworking group that maintains the Ffrith Community Park. They have conducted many tasks such as clearing pathways, removing overgrown bushes, helping to secure wildlife, providing signage and information boards. They have also have a wildflower garden and have planted 60 sapling trees with the local Scouts groups. They carry out regular litter picks throughout the gardens and have been successful in securing many grants to ensure their work can continue.
Friends of the Ffrith have been successful in gaining a Green Flag for the Ffrith Community Park. This summer the Friends of the Ffrith are holding a community event which will be focussed on the environment and will allow them to showcase their efforts.
To mark the centenary of the start of WW1 Prestatyn’s Royal British Legion has worked tirelessly in the community and have planted poppies in various places around town. The British Legion have adopted Pendre Memorial Gardens and have had a memorial bench installed infront of the gardens this year.
Friends of the Railway group have been working hard since the railway station has been finished. They have secured bright and welcoming floral displays on the platform and have encouraged Network Rail to support the Town and provide planters on the Station. They have also been supported by David J Jones Upholstery, Arriva Trains, who will sponsor and maintain the planters and Jacksons Nurseries supplied the plants.
The Allotment club meets weekly and plays an active role in the community – they are learning different horticultural methods and lessons and being able to put these into practice around the town. The club started as a children’s allotment club and then expanded to include the entire families. Many of the members now have their own plots in the allotments and dedicate a lot of their free time to them.
Both the Scouts and Brownie groups held in the Town helps to maintain the overall appearance of the Town and community areas by carrying out litter picks and planting and maintaining the flower beds outside the community centres they meet at.
The Artisans Collective are a Community Interest Company who have taken over a former library building in the town centre which had been empty following the relocation of the library. The Artisans are the hub of the community holding various community groups such as Dementia Friends, Stop Smoking Group, Children’s Art Club, Adults’ Art Club and Men’s Sheds. The Artisans are fully involved in the Bloom initiatives and have previously entered in the It’s Your Neighbourhood Competition. All the user groups have also become involved in the Bloom entry by creating wooden planters, planting and maintaining and Dementia garden which has a variety of sensory plants, creating artwork and picket fencing that is on display outside the Old Library Building and taking part in the Grow Wild Scheme. The Artisans work closely with Kew Garden’s Grow Wild and have been the catalyst for Kew to establish their North Wales Hub in Prestatyn. Their efforts this year have been focussed on areas throughout the town such as the Morfa Gateway Project which they have partnered with DCC to deliver.
