Banff and Macduff Community Trust's successful In Bloom group need more volunteers to get involved and improve the towns through enhancing floral displays and features.

Last year the group planted, erected and maintained 130 hanging baskets in the towns, and also worked their green-fingered magic on Banff Castle grounds and Duff House gardens.

This year the group has ambitious plans to add a further 50 hanging baskets to sites in Macduff, and would also like to develop other floral attractions.

But they believe it will be a case of many hands making light work, and are appealing for other community-spirited individuals to offer some support.

While volunteering has benefits for the community trust, it is very much a two-way process. Volunteers can use their time as a stepping stone to gaining work experience, to get a reference for future employers, to build confidence and develop skills, and as a way of meeting new people.

For volunteer Carol Rewston, it was the opportunity to contribute something positive to her local community that motivated her to donate some time to the In Bloom project.

She joined last year and has found it an incredibly rewarding experience. Mrs Rewston has been involved in all of the In Bloom activities, and has even seen a landscape design she produced start to take shape at the A95 Macduff town gateway.

Mrs Rewston said: "I didn't know what I was letting myself in for. I saw the article about joining BMCT In Bloom as a volunteer and spent quite a while thinking about it.

"Like everyone I had a lot of commitments - husband, daughter at university, elderly parent - but I wanted to put back something into the community too. Would it take up too much of my time, would I feel obliged to be there every week, would I be 'up to the job'? I don't actually live in Banff or Macduff, so would I be eligible to join?

"It turned out to be such a rewarding experience that I now ask myself why I didn't do something like this a lot earlier. I've made new friends, and I was welcomed without pressure. I've had plenty of laughs, as well as some challenges. I was able to indulge my passion for plants, see my local community's appearance improve and most of all, I can't wait to start again this spring."

Although Mrs Rewston is an experienced gardener, some of the current crop of volunteers had very limited horticultural knowledge prior to joining In Bloom. Absolutely no previous experience of gardening is necessary, as lots of support and informal training is provided.

There is no upper or lower level to the amount of time volunteers are asked to commit. It does not matter if a volunteer can manage a few hours a week or a few hours a month - all donations of time are extremely valuable. Volunteers do not have to be a member of the Trust to take part, and there is no requirement to live within the towns.

Leanne Carter, operations and development manager for the trust, said the efforts of the In Bloom volunteers had been very much appreciated by the local community. Research work carried out by the trust showed a very high level of satisfaction from the public, with the hanging baskets being particularly well received.

She added: "The research showed overwhelmingly that people felt the hanging baskets improved the appearances of the town centre, helped to encourage a sense of civic pride and would've given visitors a good impression. The surveys were returned with lots of positive and appreciative comments about the work of the volunteers, which was extremely heartening.

"In Bloom would dearly love to expand the good work already being done, and are committed to including the extra hanging baskets in Macduff into their work schedule for this year. However, the scope of what else they will be able to do will be limited by the manpower available.

"The seemingly limitless enthusiasm the volunteers have for bringing about positive change on their community never ceases to amaze me, but I know they would like to do much more if only they had more helpers."

In Bloom will get underway in earnest with regular weekly sessions commencing in March. Anyone who is interested in finding out more about volunteering with the group is asked to get in touch with Leanne on 01261 815185, or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it