On this page we will keep you informed about what is happening at Pride of the Borough and with News from all around the Borough. If you know of something going on that we haven’t mentioned, do let us know through our contact email address.
“Our 2026 Loyalty Card”
Our 2026 card has been available at our various outlets since the start of the year and we thank all of you who have taken the opportunity to buy for the first time or to renew your loyalty card.
It is only with your help that we can ensure that we can continue to be able to fund the various projects around the Borough.
However, we would like to ask you for a little more in the way of your physical help by volunteering to join one of our projects or offering to start a new one in your local area, with our help of course.
Just get in touch through our contact page with your details or come along to one of our meetings and find out more about what we do!
March 2026
Much work has been carried out on the Reflection Park / sensory Garden from the end of last year and continued into March. To see what’s been achieved see our Reflection Park Project page in our Getting Involved Section, by clicking on the link below.
Reflection Park Project
2nd August
A team from Pride of the Borough joined the residents of Hill Way, Oadby for work morning to help clear weeds and tidy up the island on Hill Way.
An excellent mornings work, both in the physical clearing but even more so getting so many neighbours out and hopefully rejuvenating the group. 😁
_____________________________________________
FURTHER NEWS FROM PRIDE OF THE BOROUGH
April 30
As we told you earlier in the month, some of our dedicated Pride of the Borough members were planning to return to the area around Goddard Slang to continue with the clean-up they started in March
On Monday 28th April they arrived in the morning with a selection of power tools and attacked the overgrowth of ivy and brambles with vigour. We had hoped that some of the nearby residents might join in to help. During the morning session the cutting back proceeded unearthing a considerable amount of litter and what was obviously fly tipped waste.
During the afternoon session with some different members with their litter picks and bags at the ready cleared significant amounts of the overgrown vegetation and detritus which was collected up to await removal by the Council. All this took place on, possibly, the warmest day of the year!
What we unearthed – before shot…………
And after clearing…………. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………..And later on relaxing with a well earned cuppa…….
and catching up with the latest news!!!!!!!
Finally, what we achieved………….
_______________________________________________________________________
MARCH 27
Pride of the Borough are encouraging everybody in Oadby, Wigston and South Wigston to join in with The Great British Spring Clean
This Year’s GBSpringClean Takes Place from 21 March – 6 April
Committee members from the PotB management team are getting together on Thursday March 27 at 10:00am for litter picking near the small car parking area of Goddards Slang/Cartwright Drive in Oadby.
What we found……………
And what we sorted
Following on from this productive morning where we found copious amounts of litter the team have decided to continue the work already started here to tackle the removal of ivy and brambles in an overgrown area that is hiding far more litter than was expected.
The return visit is planned for Monday 28th April.
We were encouraged by the response of from some local residents whom we hope will join us on this occasion!.
Do come and join us! Keep an eye on our Events Calendar for other possible venues and dates.
Be a part of our history – join the nation’s biggest mass action campaign
This year, the 10th Great British Spring Clean will take place from 21 March – 6 April
– thank you for pledging to take part in our previous campaign and being a part of our success!
Did you know that 66% of UK adults love where they live? But in a YouGov survey carried out on Keep Britain Tidy’s behalf, for 72%, seeing litter makes them less proud of their neighbourhood.
So we’re asking #LitterHeroes like you to show they love where they live by making a pledge to pick a bag – or more – of litter. Will you join us again this year?
To read more about this campaign click here.
———————————————————————————————-–
Past News from 2024
East Midlands in Bloom Awards for 2024
Committee members from Pride of the Borough attended the Awards Ceremony in Melton Mowbray on Wednesday 25th September
and accepted the awards on behalf of Oadby and Wigston
who were awarded their 14th consecutive Gold Certificate in the Small City Category of the competition.
and for……….
Elliot Hall in South Wigston who were awarded with EMiB Judges Award and the RHS Outstanding Award for Community Engagement
At long last
We have achieved the Least Littered Award which has eluded us and the Borough until now! Congratulations to all those valiant volunteer litter pickers and council staff who have strived to make Oadby & Wigston a cleaner place for all of us to live.
Judging Day – Wednesday 3 July
We escorted the East Midlands in Bloom judges around our Borough to show what has been acheived throughout the last 12 months. At this stage we do not know how well we have done but you can now view the portfolio we have produced to show some of what has been acheived by many volunteers by clicking the link below.
We have heard that this years Awards Presentation will take place on Wednesday 25 September at St. Marys Church, Melton Mowbray and look forward to sharing the results with you.
We have heard from the University of Leicester of the recent appointment of Nick Bailey as director of its Botanic Garden, a familiar face to BBC Gardeners’ World viewer.
Full details here. Nick-Bailey-botanic-garden
Now that Spring is upon us we can take look at some of the areas we have worked with the local residents to help improve their surroundings.
First up is Aintree Crescent in Oadby, where we joined with some energetic residents in October to plant daffodils around the green space.
Three trenches were dug out and planted up and below we can see the results that hopefully will mature in time.
Past News from 2023
Britain in Bloom
We are pleased to announce that Oadby & Wigston achieved a Silver Gilt in the Small City category at the Britain in Bloom award ceremony held in RHS Lindley Hall, London on 23rd October 2023. There were three other finalists in this category which included Newcastle-under-Lyme, to whom we send our hearty congratulations on becoming the Britain in Bloom overall winners this year!
We were surprised at the ceremony to find we had also gained a Discretionary Award for Horticultural Excellence, this came as a result of our judges recommendation for two items they were most impressed by on their tour our Borough. The first was Nova Laboratories on Gloucester Crescent Wigston and the second was MHA Aigburth Care Home on Manor Road, Oadby.
This award came with the following comments from the judges:
“There were many horticultural highlights on the tour but Aigburth Home for Supported Living garden was right up there. Marilyn, the volunteers and the residents have produced a horticultural haven.
The horticultural standard was surpassed when we went to Nova Laboratories. Richard, Mark and his team had produced a garden of the highest quality and a place of tranquility for the workers to take a break from their important work. Their attention to detail was second to none”
Collecting our Silver Gilt award presented by Rachel de Thame were Pride of the Borough’s Chairman and Secretary .
And our Certificate for Horticultural Excellence being presented by Tayshan Hayden-Smith.
Our 2023 Gold Award in East Midlands in BloomPride of the Borough are delighted to announce that we have been awarded a Gold Award in this year’s East Midlands in Bloom competition.
This is a fantastic achievement reflecting so much hard work by many individuals and volunteers.
Oadby & Wigston Launch their Lottery.
Pride of the Borough are pleased to have been accepted as one of the “Good Causes” in the Oadby & Wigston Borough Council lottery scheme. This means that those of you that buy tickets and select us will be aiding us to achieve our stated aims in improving the environment that we all share.
A portion of your ticket 
sale will be credited to us.
To buy your tickets start by clicking the QR code with your smartphone to open our page on the Community Lottery site and click on the ‘Buy Tickets’ button or by clicking the the website link below and search for Pride of the Borough and follow instruction from there.
www.oadbyandwigstoncommunitylottery.co.uk
