A Trafford care home is celebrating after coming first place in a nationwide gardening competition.

De Brook Lodge care home in Urmston has been crowned the national winner of Ideal Carehome’s annual ‘Gardens in Bloom’ competition.

The care home, on Irlam Road, was up against some strong competition, with 18 of the group’s homes from across the country battling it out for the top prize. In August, De Brook Lodge secured its place as the North West finalist and went head to head with four other regional finalists from West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire and the Midlands.

De Brook Lodge scooped first place thanks to its community involvement, with staff, residents and local volunteers joining forces to transform the gardens.

The contest, which launched in May, encouraged both staff and residents to work together to embrace their love of the great outdoors by devising and implementing an exciting revamp for their outdoor spaces.

Working with staff and volunteers from the local community, the residents introduced new seating areas, painted fences and flowerbeds, decorated planters and birdhouses with local school children, and planted up new hanging baskets and pots. The residents also created a new vegetable garden, which is already producing fresh ingredients for the whole home to enjoy. To entertain younger visitors, residents introduced a special fairy garden and a pebble hunt, where visitors can search the grounds for colourfully decorated pebbles.

The garden transformation was a real community effort, with donations and helping hands provided by Chep UK, Wellacre Boys’ School, St Monica’s School, B&Q, M41 Tyres, Beseeka’s, OT Creative Space and local electrician Bob Large.

Danielle Aikenhead, De Brook Lodge Lifestyle Manager, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have won the national prize. It has been a fantastic experience, bringing our residents and local community together, and we are now the proud owners of an award-winning garden, which we can all enjoy for years to come. We are extremely grateful to have had such overwhelming support from so many local businesses and schools - we couldn’t have done it without them.”

Stacey Linn, Ideal Carehomes’ Director, said: “De Brook Lodge took our brief and tackled it head on, bringing residents, relatives, staff and the local community together to create something really special. When we visited in August to judge the garden, we were blown away with the care and effort that had clearly gone into their project. Congratulations to everyone involved.”

www.idealcarehomes.co.uk