RHS Britain in Bloom finalists announced

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has announced the finalists in the 2012 Britain in Bloom UK Finals. Over 1,000 entries were received for this year’s campaign from which 73 finalists have been selected.

RHS Britain in Bloom is the nation's largest environmental campaign and involves more than 200,000 volunteers. It's a campaign that touches all our lives bringing together communities to enhance the look, feel and pride of a place, through gardening and environmental projects. Judges take into consideration three key criteria – horticultural achievement, community participation and environmental responsibility. Entries include parks, city or town centres, communal gardens, natural spaces and conservation areas.

Sue Biggs, RHS Director General, said: "RHS Britain in Bloom would not be the amazing success it is without the enormous number of volunteers who are committed to greening up their corner of the nation – dynamic people, all wanting to make the UK a better place to live.

"Together they plant more than 115,000 trees, 352,000 shrubs and 21.6 million plants and bulbs annually. The positive impact this has on the environment is enormous. It is an absolute honour for the RHS to be associated with these groups and individuals and I wish them all the very best of luck."

The Britain in Bloom Impact Report from the 2011 campaign highlights the incredible achievements of groups across the UK. In some instances whole cities have been brought back to life through gardening such as Moss Side, Manchester, where neighbours who had never spoken to each other before, became firm friends over the hanging baskets!

Together with the 'It’s Your Neighbourhood' (IYN) campaign, the 'Britain in Bloom' programme is enabling communities to make a major difference, not only in improving their surroundings but also by changing the physical and socio-economic landscape of the UK.

A copy of The Britain In Bloom Impact Report can be downloaded from: www.rhs.org.uk/Gardening/Community-gardening/Britain-in-Bloom

Finalists signpost the diversity of categories across the country from Norwich and Aberdeen in the City category to Cartmel and Filby in the village. In the coastal category several communities will go head-to-head including Herm in Guernsey, Grouville in Jersey, North Berwick (Scotland) and Filey (Yorkshire).

The 2012 RHS Britain in Bloom results will be announced in October at a special Awards Ceremony in St Peter Port, Guernsey.

Information about Britain in Bloom can be found on: www.rhs.org.uk/communities