Britain in Bloom judges come to Randalstown

The town is competing in one of Britain’s top horticultural competitions, ‘Britain in Bloom’ in the ‘Small Town’ category.

Judges from the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) will score the town based on their ability to build community relationships and bring environmentally friendly practices to life.

Earlier this year Tidy Randalstown Environmental Group received £50,000 from RHS in a UK-wide competition that saw the transformation of the viaduct area into a community garden, expertly designed by Johnny Knox.

The judges were welcomed to the Borough by the Mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey, Alderman Stephen Ross. They then embarked upon a two-hour tour of the town.

Judges assessed the town on three main criteria; best in community gardening, strong community spirit and pride of place. The town is hoping to build on last year’s success when they received an ‘outstanding award’ in both the ‘Cultivating Your Community’ and ‘Planting with

Purpose’ categories. 

Speaking about the judging, the Mayor said: “The town was looking absolutely beautiful and it’s certainly worthy of receiving the top prize in the ‘Small Town’ category in my eyes. Tidy Randalstown and the town’s residents, businesses must be very proud to be a finalist in such a prestigious UK-wide competition as it is a huge achievement it itself. I would like to congratulate all those involved, their unwavering dedication and commitment have helped the town reach the final stage of the competition.”

The award-winning town has an enviable record of prestigious accolades since their formation in 2003. The town won the ‘Britain in Bloom’ Gold Award in 2019 in the ‘Small Town’ category and hopes are high for another successful win. The town also received first

in ‘Ulster in Bloom’ ‘Small Town’ four consecutive times. 

The ‘Britain in Bloom’ results will be announced in October.