Encouraging community groups to enhance their local environment by gardening together
Northumbria in Bloom runs a campaign every year to recognise, encourage and reward community groups who work together to transform their village, town or city through gardening, environmental awareness and community support.
Our region runs from Berwick in the north, south west to the border with Cumbria, then along the border with North Yorkshire to the sea south of the Tees at Staithes.
What’s it all about?
Northumbria in Bloom runs a campaign every year to recognise, encourage and reward community groups who work together to transform their village, town or city through gardening, environmental awareness and community support.
We organise the competition into classes by size of community, from Small Village to Large City. Urban Communities and Coastal Communities have classes of their own. Detailed information can be found in our Entrants’ Handbook.
Any group can enter – many are entirely volunteer-run, others are in partnership with their Local Authority. All of them see the benefits that horticulture and community support bring to everyone.
If your local community has not entered the Main Competition you may still be able to take part as a Stand Alone Special Entry. There are 16 categories from which to choose – more information can be
found under The Competitions, Special Entries.
The RHS It’s Your Neighbourhood campaign is open to all volunteer groups in the region, not just in areas entering the main Bloom competition. It is non-competitive, free to enter and aimed at smaller community groups greening their local area. Further details are available under IYN Information.
Who can get involved?
Everyone!
Northumbria in Bloom is an inclusive campaign and any community, no matter how small or large, can get involved. To take part in Northumbria in Bloom you enter the category that corresponds to your size based on electoral roll or area.
Alternatively you could enter a Special Entry category (such as a Park, School, Pub, Cemetery / Churchyard etc.) and for smaller groups such as community gardens you could enter our It’s Your Neighbourhood Campaign.
Any group can enter – many are entirely volunteer run, others are in partnership with their Local Authority. All of them see the benefits that horticulture and community support bring to everyone. We also award medals to a wide variety of Special Entries, for example Schools, Parks, Pubs, Allotments; all the information on these categories and many more is available under Special Entries.
The RHS It’s Your Neighbourhood campaign is open to all volunteer groups in the region, not just in areas entering the main Bloom competition. It is non-competitive, free to enter and aimed at smaller, community groups greening their local area. Further details are available under IYN Information.
The Main Competition
Enter Now
From a Small Village to a City Centre.
Entry Period
1st November – 31st December
Stand Alone Special Entries
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There are 15 categories to choose from including, schools, parks, and hotels.
Entry Period
1st – 31st May
It's Your Neighbourhood
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Smaller groups such as community gardening projects.
Entry Period
1st April – 11th June
Judges & Awards
Our judges are all volunteers and will visit you twice during the year, once in April and again in July. These are your opportunities to ‘show off’ your community. Following the summer visit the judges will write a feedback report and award a medal which will be presented to you at our annual Awards Event in September. Details of the judging and marking criteria can be found here, along with judging tour time allocations.
We also award medals to a wide variety of Special Entries, for example Schools, Parks, Pubs, Allotments; all the information on these categories and many more is available under Special Entries.
If you have problems or queries please contact us via the Contacts page
Top Ten Tips for Entrants
- Making your town or village beautiful and winning the competition are not necessarily the same thing. The competition includes marks for environmental and community matters; these are not always obvious to visitors but essential for judges. You need to think about this when allocating your precious resources of time and money.
- Don’t point out your mistakes to the judges. They are so busy on the visit with information being presented to them that they may not notice your mistakes. If you point them out, they definitely will!
- A sense of control is important. Even a neglected area of ground that is “turned over” neatly looks controlled and purposeful. Left alone it looks neglected. Alternatively, you may have a large area you wish to leave to wildlife etc. Just mowing neat paths through it will change the whole feel of the area. Now it will look controlled and purposeful.
- Colour is important because it attracts the eye. Become familiar with the artist’s “colour wheel” so you can use it to the best advantage; eg., a yellow and blue mix in Springtime; very popular!
- Baskets and tubs. Follow the “thriller, spiller and filler” rule; ie, have a central “thriller”; then other plants to tumble over the edges, “spiller”; and something else to fill the remaining gaps, “filler”.
- Tubs. Use a sense of proportion when planting your tubs. Thinking in “thirds” is helpful. If the tub is two thirds, then you need one third in height above it. Alternatively, if the tub is one third then you need two thirds in height above it. Only have a thin covering of plants across the top of a large 3 ft high tub if you can prove a design idea. For example, blue plants giving the impression of water cascading over the tub like a fountain.
- Always give your judges a plan of the route and annotate it accordingly. This is immensely helpful later when the judges come to reflect on your entry. They can use the plan to remind them of what they saw. Top entries also use the plan to cross reference the marking sheet. For example, “here you will see …… that relates to section A1 on the marking sheet”.
- If you need inspiration for a display then why use great art as your theme? The artist will have done the colour work for you already. So we just match their colours with flower colours.
- Judges do not judge “taste”. That is personal and up to you. But we do look for “right plant, right place”. For example, don’t plant sun loving plants in deep shade.
- Finally, stay calm. The judges are on your side. They are not out to punish you like an old fashioned head teacher. They want to give you marks so show them as many things as possible that will enable them to do so. Try to cover every box on the mark sheet and point them out as you go.
What is a Special Entry?
All of the communities who enter the Main Competition are encouraged to enter Specials, which are judged during the summer judging tour. They must be agreed with your judges beforehand – usually initial ideas are discussed during the spring tour and finalised by May 31st. You will receive an email from us at the end of April with a website link to enable you to enter your Special – this will automatically attach your Special to your Main Entry and you will receive a confirmation email at the end of the process.
You must repeat the process for each Special, using the email link each time. There are 18 categories from which to choose (the full list is here) – you can enter up to 10 Specials in total, but only 1 per category. A separate entry process applies if you are nominating a Community Champion – please read the information in the Categories and Marking Critera. There is no extra fee for your Specials.
If your community is not entered into the Main Competition, or you are separate from a Main Entry, you can enter as a Stand Alone Special. Not all the categories are available as Stand Alones – your list is available here.
Each Stand Alone Special has an entry fee of £45.00 and the closing date for entries is May 31st. You will need to fill in the Stand Alone Entry Form, which includes payment details.
The marking and judging criteria are the same whether you enter through a Main Entry or you are a Stand Alone – click here for more information.
If you have problems or queries please contact our Entrants Co-ordinator Colleen Ashwin Kean at : entries@northumbriainbloom.com
What is the focus of NIB?
Horticultural Achievement
Horticulture
Environmental Responsibility
Environment
Community Participation
Community
Northumbria in Bloom is intended to be an enjoyable, positive experience. So get active, be proud of your community and encourage as many
participants as possible to join in. Above all, have FUN!
Participating communities are asked to focus their initiatives on three main areas:
- Horticultural Achievement – (assessing standards of gardening knowledge, skills and practice across the entire entry) – 40%;
- Environmental Responsibility – (assessing standards of care, maintenance and improvement of the local environment across the entire entry) – 30%;
- Community Participation – (assessing level of engagement of local people and ongoing sustainability of the local campaign across the entire entry) – 30%.
This means “in Bloom” communities tackle everything from litter, graffiti and anti-social behaviour through to conservation, sustainability and improving horticultural standards, and that’s not to mention the positive impact on sense of place, community spirit and pride.
The Northumbria in Bloom Trustees and Judges are available to act as mentors for any of our entrants, so if you need help please contact us at: Colleen Ashwin Kean, Entries Co-ordinator: entries@northumbriainbloom.com
What are the benefits?
Communities that participate in Northumbria in Bloom benefit in a variety of ways but the most common benefits are:
- Cleaner and greener surroundings
- Creating a sense of community through improvement of public spaces and positive interaction between community members
- An increase in civic pride and sense of community empowerment by engaging people in the improvement of their own community
- Safer environments for the enjoyment of local people
- Long term improvement for the environment by addressing issues such as sustainability, resource management, conservation, litter, graffiti etc.
- Reduction in anti-social behaviour
- Positive effect on the local economy such as increased commercial enterprise and increased tourism
- Regeneration of run down and/or disadvantaged areas
