24/10/2025
Volunteers bring splash of colour to Thetford neighbourhood
Flagship placemaking and regeneration project manager Chloe Gladden, left, and Jane Rowlston plant bulbs in the Barnham Cross Common neighbourhood in Thetford.
Green-fingered volunteers joined town council staff and Flagship to brighten up part of Thetford with wild daffodils, grape hyacinth and snowdrops.
Around 2,000 wildflower bulbs were planted around trees, verges and other spots around the Barnham Cross Common neighbourhood in south Thetford, where the Flagship, part of Bromford Flagship, owns many homes.
The idea for the planting came from Jane Rowlston, who lives in the neighbourhood.
Mrs Rowlston said: “This is such a good way of cheering the place up a bit. The flowers will come back each year, so it’s not just a single planting, it’s something that will keep growing.”
Mrs Rowlston, who has lived in Thetford her whole life, was last year named an ‘environmental champion’ in Thetford in Bloom, and she spends some of her spare time planting flowers and creating small gardens underneath street signs and other spots around the area.
She said: “I’ve been doing more of this over the years. A lot of people come up to me and say they love to see the plants.”
Chloe Gladden, a placemaking and regeneration project manager at the housing provider, said: “Jane spotted an opportunity to brighten the neighbourhood, and we were happy to help make it happen. The flowers are going to look great, and they’ll come back year after year.”
The wildflowers should start appearing in early spring, with daffodils typically blooming in March and April. Ms Gladden said they planned to plant another 2,000 bulbs at the site sometime over autumn.
Ms Gladden said the two-day planting project was part of a wider effort to invest in the Barnham Cross Common neighbourhood, which was opened in 1959 as the town's first 'overspill estate', built to relocate Londoners after the Second World War.
Other initiatives have included new lighting being installed, litter picking, and coffee mornings.
Steve Wells, a town team officer at Thetford Town Council, was among those joining in the planting day.