Britain in Bloom

RHS Britain in Bloom, supported by Anglian Home Improvements, is the largest horticultural campaign in the United Kingdom. It was first held in 1963, initiated by the British Tourist Board based on the example set by Fleurissement de France.^[1] It has been organised by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) since 2002. In January 2011 Anglian Home Improvements announced their three year sponsorship of the campaign.

The competition is entered by the communities of towns, villages and cities. Different categories exist for various sizes of settlements. Groups are assessed for their achievements in three core pillars: Horticultural Excellence; Environmental Responsibility; and Community Participation.

Over 1,000 communities around the UK enter each year, participating in their local region's "in Bloom" campaign. From these regional competitions, roughly 70 communities are selected to enter the national Finals of RHS Britain in Bloom.

It is a popular campaign, estimated to involve more than 200,000 volunteers in cleaning up and greening up their local area.^[2]

Since 2002, the awards have been based on the Royal Horticultural Society's medal standards of Gold, Silver Gilt, Silver and Bronze;^[3] the winner is the settlement judged to have most successfully met the rigorous judging criteria. Judging at the regional stage takes place around June/ July; judging for the national stage takes place in August. The results for the UK Finals are announced in September/ October. The competition covers the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

Floral displays play an important part in the contest, but the "Bloom" title is now, perhaps, misleading: in recent years the competition has increasingly assessed how all sectors of the local community are managing their local environment.

In 2006, the RHS introduced the Neighbourhood Awards (now the It's Your Neighbourhood campaign), a grassroots sister campaign to Bloom, supporting smaller, volunteer-led community groups focused on improving their immediate environment.

Contents 1 History 2 Structure 3 Judging 4 National winners 5 Subsequent competitions 6 Discretionary awards 7 Regions 8 RHS It's Your Neighbourhood 9 Source of civic pride 10 Further reading 11 References and notes 12 External links 13 Other language Wikipedias

History

The history of the 'Bloom', as it is colloquially referred to,^[4] began in 1963 when Roy Hay MBE, a horticultural journalist, went on holiday to France during the Fleurissement de France and was enthralled by seeing the country "filled to overflowing with flowers, shrubs and trees all in full bloom". His enquiries revealed that President de Gaulle had given orders to brighten up the country and the French Tourist Authority had set up the Fleurissement de France in 1959 (now called Concours des villes et villages fleuris). Hay was so impressed that he approached the British Tourist Authority ("BTA"), and he and Len Lickorish, then Director General of the BTA, set up a committee to run a British version, "Britain in Bloom". It was piloted by the British Tourist Authority in 1963 (Lewisham being part of that pilot^[5]), and went national in 1964.

Many organisations were invited to help, including: The Automobile Association; London Tourist Board; National Farmers' Union; London Parks; Institute of Parks and Recreation Administration; National Association of Rural Communities; Royal Horticultural Society; Royal Automobile Club; The Tourist Boards of England, Scotland and Wales; The National Federation of Women's Institutes; Civic Trust; Keep Britain Tidy Group; the Flowers and Plants Council; The Horticultural Trades Association; The British Hotels and Restaurants Association; The Society of Town Clerks; Townswomen's Guild and British Airways. Despite this impressive list, Roy Hay later reflected that the initial reaction of the horticultural trade and local authorities was lukewarm.^[4]

Nevertheless, regional committees were quickly formed, and in 1964 Bath became the first national winner. From 1964 to 1969 inclusive there was an overall national winner. From 1970, however, the competition was divided up into a range of categories, because of the difficulty of comparing settlements of different sizes fairly.^[4]

The British Tourist Authority managed the competition until 1983 when the Government Department sponsoring the BTA felt that it should relinquish the responsibility. The Tidy Britain Group (the group responsible for the Keep Britain Tidy campaign, now known as EnCams) took over; it already had a long association with the competition. To mark the changeover, 1983 was celebrated as "Beautiful Britain in Bloom Year".^[4] Sir Lawrie Barratt of Barratt Developments expressed his support to the Tidy Britain Group for the competition and provided sponsorship until 1989.

More categories and awards were added, in part reflecting a greater range of settlements, but also to recognise other elements of horticulture, including landscaping, and also to recognise the strenuous efforts to beautify the urban areas of the larger cities. McDonalds began sponsoring the competition from 1990, which led to focus on littering behaviour and the implementation of a Children's Painting Competition Calendar.^[4] In 2001, the event was organised jointly by EnCams and the Royal Horticultural Society, and from November 2001 the RHS took full control as the organising body of Britain in Bloom.^[6]

Year	Organising Body	Main Sponsor
1964 to 1982	British Tourist Authority	No main sponsor
1983 to 1989	Tidy Britain Group	Barratt Developments
1990 to TBC	Tidy Britain Group	McDonalds
2001	Tidy Britain Group & Royal Horticultural Society	TBC
2002 to 2003	Royal Horticultural Society	B&Q (from 2003)[7]
2004 to 2006	Royal Horticultural Society	B&Q
2007 to 2009	Royal Horticultural Society	Shredded Wheat
2011 to present	Royal Horticultural Society	Anglian Home Improvements

Structure

The competition currently has twelve entry categories, most of which are determined by population size. Within each category, similarly sized communities compete across a spectrum of horticultural endeavour, community participation and environmental responsibility, which includes dealing with issues of litter, graffiti and vandalism.^[6]

• Category A
  • Small Village
  • Village
  • Large Village
• Category B
  • Small Town
  • Town
  • Large Town
• Category C
  • Small City
  • City
  • Large City
• Category D
  • Urban Community
• Category E
  • Small Coastal
  • Large Coastal

Judging

RHS Britain in Bloom encompasses 18 Regions/ Nations (12 English regions, as well as Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey).

Judging takes place over two years in two stages:

1. Regional competition: Entries are first submitted by voluntary local 'Bloom' Committees, depending upon the area, to Local Authorities, Town or Parish Councils. These communities take part in their regional competition, for example South West in Bloom. The local volunteers are colloquially known as "bloomers".^[8] Judging takes place in June/July, and winners are announced during local presentations between August and November.

1. UK-wide: After the judging of the regional stage, Committees representing their nation/region select entrants for the second UK-wide stage. To ensure that effort is sustained over time, this second stage of judging takes place in August the year after they qualify. Winners of the UK judging are announced at a prestigious ceremony in September/October.^[9]

National winners

Details to 1990 from Graham Ashworth CBE, Britain in Bloom, The Tidy Britain Group (Wigan:1991)^[10]

KEY

Winner Known

Category Dormant

Category Not Created/No longer exists

Winner unknown/Not known if category exists

Subsequent competitions

From the winners and finalists of RHS Britain in Bloom, entries are picked to represent Britain in international competitions such as the Entente Florale.^[14]

Discretionary awards

(Definition Source) (Definition Source)

• The Britain in Bloom Floral Award / previously The Asmer Trophy: Presented to the finalist that demonstrates the best floral displays throughout the entry.

• The Sustainable Landscaping Award ^{(from 2010)} / previously The Permanent Landscaping Award / Beautiful Britain Award^{(from 1983)}/Landscape Development Trophy^{(to 1983)}: Presented to the finalist that demonstrates innovative and high quality sustainable landscaping within their entry.

• The Community Award ^{(from 2002)} : Presented to the finalist deemed to have best demonstrated that community involvement in their local “in Bloom” campaign is representative of all sectors of the community.

• The Bob Hare Award^{(from 1980–1990)} : Presented for outstanding contribution to their community's Britain in Bloom effort in any sector

• Commercial Award / Gordon Ford Trophy: Presented to the finalist that demonstrates the best environmental and/or horticultural contribution from business / retail / corporate interests. Originally presented by Gordon Ford.

• Environmental Quality Award / previously Tidy Britain Group Trophy / Keep Britain Tidy Trophy / The Keep Britain Tidy Award: Presented to the finalist that best demonstrates duty and commitment to any one or more of the following: cleanliness, effective use of resources and maintenance of hard landscaping and street furniture.

• Tourism Award: Presented to the finalist that demonstrates the most effective use of their local “in Bloom” initiatives as a means of encouraging and supporting tourism in their area.

• Best Public Park Award: Given in Memory of David Welch. Presented to the park (including publicly run pay-on-entry parks and gardens) designed for horticultural excellence, giving delight to the visitor through appropriate planting, high standards of maintenance, including infrastructure, conserving wildlife, cleanliness and features of interest.

• Conservation and Wildlife Award / previously The Going for Green Trophy: Presented to the finalist that best demonstrates commitment to sustainable development, including management of the flora and fauna in their local environment.

• Individual Citations: individuals are sometimes cited for their individual contributions to the year's Britain in Bloom

• Outstanding Contribution / previously The Moran Memorial Award: Presented to one individual judges consider to have made outstanding efforts towards the success and promotion of Britain in Bloom.

• Best Inner City / Barratt Inner City Trophy: for the best effort in inner city areas

• Young People's Award ^{(from 2008)} : Presented to the finalist deemed to involve young people from across the community in the best way.

Year	The Britain in Bloom Floral Award / The Asmer Trophy	The Sustainable Landscaping Award / Beautiful Britain Award / Landscape Development Trophy	The Community Award / 1980 - 1990: The Bob Hare Award	Commercial Award / Gordon Ford Trophy	Environmental Quality Award/ Tidy Britain Group Trophy / The Keep Britain Tidy Trophy	Tourism Award	Best Public Park Award	Conservation and Wildlife Award/ The Going for Green Trophy	Outstanding Contribution/ The Moran Memorial Award	Best Inner City / Barratt Inner City Trophy	Young People's Award
2010	Coleraine	City of London	Crawley	Beighton, Sheffield	Tameside	Harrogate	Bristol Zoo	Solihull	Ken Powles & Susan Smith		Douglas, Isle of Man
2009	Rustington	Bangor - Bangor Walled Garden	Earsdon	St. Brelade’s Bay Hotel	St Andrew’s, Scotland	Chipping, Lancashire	Harrogate - Valley Gardens	Farthing Downs and New Hill, London Borough of Croydon	Vic Verrier		Falkland
2008	Perth	Sheffield	Cricklade	Ocean Road, South Shields	Sheffield	Douglas, Isle of Man	Ravelin Park South Sea	North Meadow, Cricklade	Terry Bane		Applegrove School, Forres
2007	Grouville	Bury St. Edmunds & Abbots Green School	Nottingham	White Rose shopping centre, Beeston	Duffus & North Berwick	Cleethorpes	Mount Edgcumbe Park Plymouth	Cardiff Bay	Christel MacIntosh, Alness
2006	Shrewsbury	St. Helier - Waterfront	Falkland	Taylors of Harrogate, Starbeck	Norton in Hales	Scarborough	Greyfriars Green Coventry	Durlston Country Park, Swanage	Clifford Prout, Old Colwyn
2005	Nottingham	North Berwick	The Friends of Norwich in Bloom	Fareham Memorial Gardens	Manchester City Centre	Hexham	University Park Nottingham	Rottingdean	Jeanette Warke, Londonderry
2004	Perth	Sheffield - Peace Garden	Seedley and Langworthy(Salford)	Bracknell Flowers, Bracknell	Market Bosworth	Falkland	Jephson Gardens Royal Leamington Spa	Tilgate Centre, Crawley	Doug Stacey
2003	Falkland	Guildford	Coleraine	Normanton	Aberdeen	Barnstaple	Botanic Gardens Bath	Bury St. Edmunds	Malcolm Wood, Nottingham
2002	Stafford	Oxford - Arlington Business Park	Saltburn by the Sea	Doxford International Business Park, Sunderland	Newcastle under Lyme - Meadows Residents Association	Drumnadrochit & Brighton and Hove	Johnston Park Aberdeen	London Borough of Bromley	Carolyn Wilson, Alness
2001	Bath	St. Helier - Harbour Approach		KeyMed, Southend on Sea	Newcastle upon Tyne	Lynton & Lynmouth	The Crichton Dumfries	Tatsfield	Pupils and teachers at Applegrove Primary School, Forres	Leeds
2000										Portsmouth
1999										Nottingham, Hyson Green
1996										Nottingham
1992	Bath
1990	Southport	Swansea	Guildford	J Sainsbury plc	Nuneaton and Bedworth	Keswick			George Tomlinson Crewe	Plymouth
1989	Morpeth	Telford	Saintfield in Bloom Committee	Bournemouth	Moira				Muriel Preece Organiser of West Country in Bloom	Leeds
1988	Bury St Edmunds	Plymouth	Moffat	Gorey, Jersey	Exeter				Lewis McAvoy Chief Technical Officer Lisburn Borough Council	Oxford
1987	Bath	Crewe	The Japanese Garden, Aberdeen	Stratford upon Avon	Bury St Edmunds				Jim Woods Killyleagh
1986	Shrewsbury	Belfast	Walter Dinning, Parks Department, Gateshead	Nantwich	Sorn				Leonard Likorish former Director General of the British Tourist Authority
1985	Douglas	Crewe	Tom Dobbins, Babbacombe Model Village, Devon	Torquay	Market Bosworth				Dr W Dally Edzell
1984	Cheltenham	Forres	St David's Centre, Cardiff	Nantwich	East Sleekburn				George Dick Village orderly of Ballinamallard
1983	Ryton	Aberdeen	Tevrnspite, Dyfed	Sidmouth	Cheltenham				David Welch Director of Leisure and Recreation, Aberdeen
1982	Swansea	Kirkcaldy	Harold Peirce, Arthur Allen, Brian Pattenden, Nigel Rogers - Eastbourne Parks Dept	Stratford upon Avon	Stratford upon Avon				(posthumous) Bob Hare
1981		Stockport	Strathclyde	Bath	Largs				Mr H Parker Assistant Director of Environment (Parks) Swansea City Council
1980		Paisley	Belfast	Sidmouth	Forres
1979		Belfast		York	Douglas				Mr B Wolley Chairman Northumberland in Bloom
1978				Swansea	Holywell				Dr D W Huebner Chairman Yorkshire and Humberside in Bloom
1977				Bath	Exeter				Mr P Conn Ex Parks Director, City of Liverpool
1976				Bath	Wolviston				Mr C B Preece West Country in Bloom
1975				City of London	London Borough of Camden
1974				Bath	Clovelly
1973				Bath	Bridlington
1972				Bath
1971				Bath

Regions

There are 18 Regions/ Nations "in Bloom", each of which coordinate regional campaigns in their area. The regions of the UK and Crown dependencies used in the competition are (with reference to ceremonial counties and government office regions)

Country	Region	Name	Notes
England	Anglia (East of England region)	Anglia in Bloom
England	Cumbria	Cumbria in Bloom
England	East Midlands (as region)	East Midlands in Bloom
England	Heart of England	Heart of England in Bloom	Heart of England includes Gloucestershire (minus South Gloucestershire), Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, and Worcestershire
England	London	London in Bloom
England	Northumbria (as North East England)	Northumbria in Bloom
England	North West England	North West in Bloom	(as region, less Cumbria)
England	South East England	South & South East in Bloom	(East Sussex, Kent, West Sussex, Surrey)
England	South West England	Southwest in Bloom	(Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, western Dorset, Somerset, South Gloucestershire, most of Wiltshire)
England	Southern England	South & South East in Bloom	(eastern Dorset, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, southern Wiltshire)
England	Thames and Chilterns	Thames & Chilterns in Bloom	(Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire)
England	Yorkshire	Yorkshire in Bloom
Ulster (Northern Ireland)	Ulster (Northern Ireland)	Ulster in Bloom
Scotland	Scotland	Beautiful Scotland
Wales	Wales	Wales in Bloom
Isle of Man	Isle of Man	Isle of Man in Bloom	Campaign is temporarily suspended (2011)
Guernsey	Guernsey	Floral Guernsey
Jersey	Jersey	Jersey in Bloom

RHS It's Your Neighbourhood

RHS It's Your Neighbourhood is part of the wider RHS Britain in Bloom initiative, supporting smaller, volunteer-led groups in improving their immediate environment. This could be their local community park or garden, the estate where they live, or the residential alley they share.

The campaign was launched by the RHS in 2006. There are currently more than 1,100 registered It's Your Neighbourhood groups (2011).

The initiative works around the same three pillars of assessment as RHS Britain in Bloom: Community Participation, Horticultural Achievement and Environmental Responsibility; however, it is not a competitive campaign. Participating groups receive an annual visit from an It's Your Neighbourhood assessor, who can provide valuable feedback, and each group receives a certificate of achievement from the RHS.

The It's Your Neighbourhood campaign is free to enter and open to groups of all sizes, as long as they are focused on improving their local environment and are:

• A volunteer-led group
• Hands on
• Involved in community gardening
• Owned by the community
• Representative of the community / getting input from the community
• Benefiting the community.

For example, they could be:

• A residents’ group / association
• A ‘Friends of’ group
• A youth group
• A community allotment / garden.

Source of civic pride

Winning a category within Britain in Bloom at a national or even regional level has proved to be a source of considerable civic pride for the towns, cities and villages involved. Many of the authorities of the winning locations do advertise their achievements on signs within, or more predominantly on the outskirts of their settlement. One journalist stated that "Since Britain In Bloom began in 1963 … nothing has pleased town councillors more than to hammer up a sign at the outskirts of their kingdom trumpeting superiority to incoming visitors… Few events provide a sterner test of civic pride."^[8] Examples include Garstang where the sign that leads to the high street at the heart of the town says, above the name "Garstang", Britain In Bloom Small Town – Gold Award Winners 2002, 2005, and "Invitation Finalists to Champion of Champions 2006",^[8] or Guildford, which advertises its past triumph in the Town category on its welcome signs.

Further reading

• Graham Ashworth CBE, Britain in Bloom, The Tidy Britain Group (Wigan:1991)
• RHS Growing Communities magazine

References and notes

1. ^ Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea - About In Bloom
2. ^ RHS Britain in Bloom campaign statistics
3. ^ The Garden, (Journal of The Royal Horticultural Society), October 2002, p752)
4. ^ ^{a b c d e} Graham Ashworth CBE, Britain in Bloom, pages 7 & 8, The Tidy Britain Group (Wigan:1991)
5. ^ Lewisham in Bloom heroes pick up awards
6. ^ ^{a b} Woolton in Bloom - Information on Britain in Bloom
7. ^ The Garden, (Journal of The Royal Horticultural Society), April 2003, p233)
8. ^ ^{a b c} Wednesday, 8 August 2007, Flower power: The Britain in Bloom phenomenon, The Independent
9. ^ RHS Britain in Bloom
10. ^ Graham Ashworth CBE, Britain in Bloom, The Tidy Britain Group (Wigan:1991)
11. ^ From Bloom Review, Issue 8, Spring 2006: Champion of Champions - This is a category within the RHS Britain in Bloom UK Finals where selected communities, of all population sizes, who have demonstrated sustained high standards in the Bloom campaign, are invited to compete for the title of ‘Champion of Champions’. These entries are judged against the Bloom criteria relevant to their population, and then compared to determine the overall winner.
12. ^ RHS Britain in Bloom Awards Winners 2008
13. ^ RHS Britain in Bloom Awards Winners 2007
14. ^ The Entente Florale itself has taken different forms, such as the "ENTENTE FLORALE – Ten Nations Competition" and the "ENTENTE FLORALE – Britain - France - Belgium Competition"

External links

• Britain in Bloom
• It's Your Neighbourhood
• RHS Growing Communitites magazine

Other language Wikipedias

• Concours des villes et villages fleuris - French National Competition article
• Entente Florale Deutschland - German National Competition article