Britain in Bloom is organised by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and is the leading gardening competition for councils and other community organisations across the UK.
The market town in Staffordshire was awarded the overall prize and won the category of best UK small city. Celebrating their landmark 850th anniversary, Newcastle-under-Lyme’s planting highlights included; the Queens Gardens, urban sustainable herbaceous and perennial planting and their Urban Tree Planting Strategy, including the newly planted Lyme Forest.
Simon Tagg, Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, explained: “Taking part in the national and regional ‘in Bloom’ awards is so important: not only does it make where we live a smarter, better place, it pulls communities together to make a meaningful contribution to sustainability, recycling and energy conservation.”
Newcastle-under-Lyme has been involved in Britain in Bloom for more than 30 years. The Bloom group have won 21 Gold Awards, the national ‘Small City’ title and a Gold Award in the Champion of Champions round, but never before the overall top prize.
“I am delighted that we have been judged the best of the best, especially in the year that we celebrate our 850th anniversary. It is impossible to win this prizes unless the whole community pulls together: schools, businesses, community groups and volunteers have worked together to make this possible and I am so proud of this shared achievement”, added Tagg.
According to the borough’s council, this year the volunteers donated the equivalent of 4,000 hours of work to participate in the competition.
2024, will mark the 60th anniversary of competition, which over the years, has continued to bring people together, forged life-long relationships and enriched lives.
The full list of the 2023 winners is available here.