Gold for Spofforth and Harrogate in the RHS Britain in Bloom Awards 2012

6 October 2012

Harrogate, Spofforth and Knaresborough have all received honours in the RHS Britain in Bloom Awards.

RHS Britain in Bloom is the biggest voluntary campaign in the UK and works to improve people’s lives through community gardening.

Matt Baker, presenter of BBC TV’s The One Show, hosted the prestigious RHS Britain in Bloom Award Ceremony held in St Peter Port, Guernsey and attended by 450 community gardening champions.

 

Harrogate scooped a Gold in the Small City category for 2012

RHS Judge, Jim Goodwin, said:

Harrogate has an excellent floral pedigree and it is developing a good balance between the traditional horticultural displays for which it is noted and more permanent sustainable plantings. The town has a wonderful, well managed tree-scape and many attractive open spaces. The voluntary Harrogate in Bloom group is working well, in partnership with the local Council and businesses to embrace the three core pillars of the competition. Engagement with a range of community/’Friends of’ groups is seeing valuable environmental improvements. It was most pleasing to see the excellent facilities in Valley Gardens being so well used.

More than 1,200 UK communities, from big cities to wee villages, participate each year in the RHS campaign to green-up and clean-up Britain. Of these, just 72 finalists were chosen to represent their region/nation in the UK Finals*. Harrogate represents Yorkshire.

Chair of the RHS Britain in Bloom UK Judging Panel, Roger Burnett, led a team of 14 volunteer judges who toured the UK in July and August visiting each finalist. They marked against three key criteria – horticultural achievement, community participation and environmental responsibility.

 

Roger said:

We had the privilege and pleasure of visiting the most environmentally aware communities in Britain and meeting the wonderful people responsible for them. The best thing about being a judge is meeting the volunteers. They’re hard-working and resilient – whatever’s thrown at them, whether it’s a hose-pipe ban or flooding, they’ll find a way around it. It’s a hugely comforting thought to know that there are over 200,000 Britain in Bloom volunteers across the UK.

 

 

Spofforth scooped a Gold & Category Winner in the Village category

 

John Stanley, Chairman, Spofforth in Bloom, said:

All here in Spofforth are absolutely thrilled to have won the Village category of the RHS Britain in Bloom National Finals. It means so much to everybody in the community who have put in so much work to make our village a more beautiful, greener and cleaner place to live. The award is a truly wonderful reward for all our hard work. Representing the Yorkshire Region for the finals was a fantastic honour and achievement. I’m so proud of all the community who helped in enabling us to show case our village in this prestigious horticultural campaign. Britain in Bloom is simply all about people and community. People coming together to make their home a better place to live, and I am overwhelmed that our community was acknowledged in this way!

Last year, the RHS released a report demonstrating how RHS Britain in Bloom benefits the physical, social and economic health of the country. It revealed that being involved in the campaign was a key factor in driving visitors and investment into areas, thus improving economic wellbeing. Local businesses flourish, jobs are created and local authorities save a vast amount of money.

 

RHS Britain in Bloom UK Judging Panel, Roger Burnett added:

We had the privilege and pleasure of visiting the most environmentally aware communities in Britain and meeting the wonderful people responsible for them. The best thing about being a judge is meeting the volunteers. They’re hard-working and resilient – whatever’s thrown at them, whether it’s a hose-pipe ban or flooding, they’ll find a way around it. It’s a hugely comforting thought to know that there are over 200,000 Britain in Bloom volunteers across the UK.

Broughshane, in Northern Ireland, was awarded the ultimate community gardening prize winning the Champion of Champions 2012 award, meaning the town is arguably the cleanest, greenest and most beautiful location in Britain.

A number of discretionary awards were also given to communities and individuals who demonstrated excellence in a particular area of the campaign. These included awards for young people’s involvement, environmental sustainability and community-wide participation, amongst others.

Knaresborough also took a Silver gilt award in the large town category.

 

 

RHS Britain in Bloom 2012 National Final Awards:

Region / Nation

Entry Name

Category

Award

Anglia

Norwich

City

Silver Gilt

Anglia

Great Yarmouth

Coastal Over 12k

Silver Gilt

Anglia

Huntingdon

Large Town

Silver Gilt

Anglia

Halstead

Town

Gold & Category Winner

Anglia

Moor (Huntingdon)

Urban Community

Bronze

Anglia

Filby

Village

Silver Gilt

Cumbria

Windermere

Town

Silver

Cumbria

Cartmel

Village

Silver Gilt

East Midlands

Cleethorpes

Champion of Champions

Gold

East Midlands

Northampton

City

Silver

East Midlands

Belper

Large Town

Gold & Category Winner

East Midlands

Market Bosworth

Large Village

Gold & Category Winner

East Midlands

Loughborough

Small City

Gold & Category Winner

Guernsey

Herm

Coastal Up to 12k

Gold

Heart of England

Birmingham

Large City

Gold & Category Winner

Heart of England

Stone

Large Town

Silver Gilt

Heart of England

Kings Heath (Birmingham)

Urban Community

Silver Gilt

Jersey

Grouville

Coastal Up to 12k

Silver Gilt

Jersey

St Helier

Large Town

Silver Gilt

London

Westminster

City

Silver Gilt

London

Hillingdon

Large City

Silver Gilt

London

London Bridge (Southwark)

Urban Community

Silver

North West

Oldham

City

Silver Gilt & Category Winner

North West

Lytham

Coastal Up to 12k

Gold & Joint Category Winner

North West

Wigan

Large City

Silver Gilt

North West

Nantwich

Town

Silver Gilt

North West

Seedley & Langworthy (Salford)

Urban Community

Silver

North West

Chipping

Village

Silver Gilt

Northumbria

Stockton on Tees

Champion of Champions

Gold

Northumbria

Sunderland

Large City

Silver Gilt

Northumbria

Warkworth

Large Village

Silver Gilt

Northumbria

Sedgefield

Small Town

Gold

Northumbria

Stanghow

Small Village

Gold & Category Winner

Northumbria

Morpeth

Town

Silver Gilt

Scotland

Forres

Champion of Champions

Gold

Scotland

Aberdeen

City

Silver Gilt

Scotland

North Berwick

Coastal Up to 12k

Gold & Joint Category Winner

Scotland

Dumfries

Large Town

Silver Gilt

Scotland

Melrose

Large Village

Gold

Scotland

Linlithgow

Town

Silver Gilt

Scotland

Dyce (Aberdeen)

Urban Community

Silver

Scotland

Muthill

Village

Silver Gilt

South

Gosport

Small City

Silver

South

Wimborne

Small Town

Gold & Category Winner

South East

Herne Bay

Coastal Over 12k

Silver Gilt & Category Winner

South East

Chichester

Large Town

Silver

South East

Tatsfield

Large Village

Silver Gilt

South East

Crawley

Small City

Silver Gilt

South West

Thornbury

Champion of Champions

Gold

South West

Sidmouth

Coastal Over 12k

Silver

South West

Truro

Large Town

Gold

South West

Taunton

Small City

Silver Gilt

South West

Newquay

Town

Silver Gilt

South West

St Issey

Village

Silver Gilt

Thames & Chilterns

Woodstock

Small Town

Silver Gilt

Thames & Chilterns

Bray

Small Village

Silver Gilt

Ulster

Broughshane

Champion of Champions

Gold & Category Winner

Ulster

Bangor

Coastal Over 12k

Silver

Ulster

Hillsborough

Large Village

Silver Gilt

Ulster

Ahoghill

Small Town

Gold

Ulster

Scarva

Small Village

Silver Gilt

Wales

Tenby

Coastal Up to 12k

Silver Gilt

Wales

Rhyl

Large Town

Silver

Wales

Chirk (Wrexham)

Urban Community

Gold & Joint Category Winner

Yorkshire

Filey

Coastal Up to 12k

Silver Gilt

Yorkshire

Leeds

Large City

Gold

Yorkshire

Knaresborough

Large Town

Silver Gilt

Yorkshire

Hutton Cranswick

Large Village

Silver Gilt

Yorkshire

Harrogate

Small City

Gold

Yorkshire

Addingham

Small Town

Silver Gilt

Yorkshire

Kippax (Leeds)

Urban Community

Gold & Joint Category Winner

Yorkshire

Spofforth

Village

Gold & Category Winner

 

RHS Britain in Bloom Discretionary Awards:

Entry Winner

Award

Birmingham

Horticulture

St Helier

Sustainable Landscaping

Newquay – Hendra Caravan Park

Commercial

Leeds (St John the Evangelist) & Stone

Young People

Lytham – St Bede’s High School

School

Kippax (Leeds)

Conservation & Wildlife

Thornbury Community Composting Site

Environmental Responsibility

Oldham

Pride of Place

Herm & Great Yarmouth

Tourism

Chirk (Wrexham)

Heritage

Birmingham, Cannon Hill Park

Public Park

Loughborough

Community

Dr Stan da Prato (North Berwick)

Community Champion

Jim Leak (Lytham)

Community Champion

Marion Wright (Filey)

Community Champion

Shaun Cregan (Taunton)

Community Champion

Ruth Growney (Crawley)

Community Champion

Wallace Elder (Ahoghill)

Community Champion

Anthony Oliver (Wimborne)

Community Champion

Pat Samy (Kippax)

Community Champion

Jackie Allen (Chirk)

Community Champion

Anne Colbort & Peter Jackson (Huntingdon)

Community Champion

Leonard Anderson (Scarva)

Community Champion

 

1 Comment

  1. Aberdeen from a very dodgy Bronze two years ago to a Silver Gilt very proud of the stinging critiscm and dedicated ambition displayed by all the communities involved.

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