Major Successes at Britain in Bloom 2018

We brought home a clutch of major awards from the 2018 Britain in Bloom Awards ceremony, which was held in Belfast on Friday night (19 Oct). Perth won 

• A Gold Medal
• The trophy for the Best Large Town* in the UK (beating off stiff competition from 8 other locations**)
• The Parks and Green Spaces Award for Riverside Park
• An individual ‘Community Champion’ Award for one of our volunteers, Tom Lowdon.

 And our amazing evening was topped off with the announcement that we are one of only 5 groups in the UK to be nominated for the much-coveted ‘Champion of Champions’ Award in 2019. Our Chairman John Summers said: "We are absolutely overwhelmed by these fantastic successes. These Awards represent thoroughly well-deserved recognition for all the work done by our amazing volunteers and I couldn't be more proud of them! (Some of our volunteers are pictured above, toasting our success).

John went on to thank our many other supporters: " We share our success with many other partners, including Perth & Kinross Council's Community Greenspace, Waste Services and Community Justice teams, staff at the Westbank nursery and the local residents, businesses and community groups who help us as supporters, suppliers, sponsors and partners in action. Our grateful thanks to them all. 

“We are very honoured indeed to have been nominated for the Champion of Champions Award next year. This is the highest honour awarded by Britain in Bloom, but it also has the very highest judging standards. That means a lot of work for us, but we know we are up for the challenge.” 

“I am delighted that Tom Lowdon (pictured below) has received a ‘Community Champion’ Award. Anyone who visits Riverside Park is likely to have seen him hard at work amongst the heather beds, the Compassionate Friends Garden, the sustainable planting beds in Rodney Garden or the raised beds on Dundee Road. He works tirelessly for our cause and it is only right that he should receive this national recognition. He is a true champion of the Fair City community.

The Britain in Bloom Awards reflect the work done by volunteers in villages, towns and cities right across the UK. Scotland did particularly well this year – of the 76 ‘bloom groups’ who entered in the 12 categories, five were from north of the border (Perth, Falkirk, Linlithgow, East Haven and Aberdeen). All five won Gold medals and four won their categories – Aberdeen was best City, East Haven best small coastal community, Falkirk topped the Town Centres & Business Districts category, Linlithgow was best Town and Perth Best Large Town*.

There are no fewer than 49 local ‘bloom’ groups active in Perth & Kinross alone, and our combined efforts make a hugely positive impact on local communities across P&K. More information about the P&K groups can be found here. New volunteers are always welcome! 

 *The Britain in Bloom Award categories are set by population size, and Perth falls into the ‘Large Town’ category.

 **The other entrants in the Large Town category were Ballymena (Ulster), Beverley (Yorkshire), Bury St Edmunds (Anglia), Colwyn Bay (Wales), Congleton (North West), Oswestry (Heart of England), Penrith (Cumbria) and Royal Tunbridge Wells (South East)

 Full results from the Britain in Bloom Awards 2018 can be found here

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