Britain in Bloom 2024: Roberttown community group ‘flying the flag for Yorkshire’ in prestigious Royal Horticultural Society annual competition

Roberttown in Bloom has been shortlisted in the Large Village category, along with seven other entrants across the UK, of the prestigious contest organised by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS).

Despite only being founded four years ago, the green-fingered group have had success at recent Yorkshire in Bloom awards where they were named the overall best village in the county in 2023 after claiming the best newcomers title in 2022.

And as the only representative from Yorkshire in the eight-entry field at this year’s Britain in Bloom awards, the volunteers are determined to make the county, and their village, “proud.”

Louise Hardy, chairperson of Roberttown In Bloom, said: “It is great news for Kirklees and for Yorkshire. It is a massive accolade. The awards will happen in the Autumn and will be televised on The One Show, so it is quite an accolade just to be in the running.

“Who knows where we will end up but one thing for sure is that we will be putting our heart and soul into it again to give the village something to be proud of.

“Win or lose we will be working to the same standard to make sure Roberttown is a nice place for everyone to come to.

“We are very much looking forward to flying the flag for Yorkshire and we hope to make everyone very proud.”

With a focus on sustainability, inclusivity and accessibility, the group, which aims to “plant smiles” throughout the village, will also be incorporating the UK’s biggest gardening competition’s theme of friendship ahead of the judges’ visit later this year.

Louise said: “Friendship and togetherness are the cornerstones of this remarkable community.

“We obviously don’t want to give too much away but there are a few core elements to the work that we do anyway. We will be engaging with schools and we hope to see lots of learning and awareness about the environment and where we live.

“It all goes towards making Roberttown a safer, cleaner and greener place to live.

“We have got a lot of exciting plans but the main thing is to stick with the foundation stones of what Roberttown in Bloom is all about, which are sustainability, inclusivity and definitely friendship, which is how we started in lockdown.

“We are a group where everybody can come and feel the benefit of being outdoors and the joy of seeing what you did come to fulfilment, as well as having someone to talk to or listen to and make friends.”

Kay Clark, community development manager at RHS, said: “While planting trends may change and environmental practices evolve, the belief that plants and communal green spaces are important for creating healthy and happy communities endures.

“Britain in Bloom groups across the UK work to enhance the local environment, share skills and knowledge, and create opportunities to improve local wellbeing.

“In this special anniversary year, we’ve chosen the theme of friendship, to highlight the way in which community gardening can bring people together and enrich lives.”

Roberttown in Bloom will be up against Great Coates in Bloom (Lincolnshire), Floral Forest (Guernsey), Holywell in Bloom (Northumberland), Lauder in Bloom (Scotland), Cannington in Bloom (Somerset), Cullybackey Community Partnership (Ulster) and Saundersfoot in Bloom (Wales) in the Large Village category.

For anybody who would like more information about Roberttown In Bloom, or if anyone would like to join the group of volunteers, contact Louise on 07841589526.