RHS Britain in Bloom is the largest horticultural campaign in the United Kingdom. It was first held in 1964, initiated by the British Tourist Board based on the example set by Fleurissement de France (now Conseil national de villes et villages fleuris), which since 1959 has promoted the annual Concours des villes et villages fleuris. It has been organised by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) since 2002.

The competition is entered by the communities of towns, villages and cities. Different categories exist for various sizes of settlements. Groups are assessed for their achievements in three core pillars: Horticultural Excellence; Environmental Responsibility; and Community Participation.

Over 1,600 communities around the UK enter each year, participating in their local region's "in Bloom" campaign. From these regional competitions, roughly 80 communities are selected to enter the national Finals of RHS Britain in Bloom.

It is a popular campaign, estimated to involve more than 200,000 volunteers in cleaning up and greening up their local area.

Since 2002, the awards have been based on the Royal Horticultural Society's medal standards of Gold, Silver Gilt, Silver and Bronze;The Garden (Journal of The Royal Horticultural Society), October 2002, p752 the winner is the settlement judged to have most successfully met the rigorous judging criteria. Judging at the regional stage takes place around June/ July; judging for the national stage takes place in August. The results for the UK Finals are announced in September/ October. The competition covers the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

Floral displays play an important part in the contest, but the "Bloom" title is now, perhaps, misleading: in recent years the competition has increasingly assessed how all sectors of the local community are managing their local environment.

In 2006, the RHS introduced the Neighbourhood Awards (now the It's Your Neighbourhood campaign), a grassroots sister campaign to Bloom, supporting smaller, volunteer-led community groups focused on improving their immediate environment.

History The history of the 'Bloom', as it is colloquially referred to,Graham Ashworth CBE, Britain in Bloom, pages 7 & 8, The Tidy Britain Group (Wigan:1991) began in 1964 when Roy Hay MBE, a horticultural journalist, went on holiday to France during the Fleurissement de France and was enthralled by seeing the country "filled to overflowing with flowers, shrubs and trees all in full bloom". His enquiries revealed that President de Gaulle had given orders to brighten up the country and the French Tourist Authority had set up the Fleurissement de France in 1959 (now called Concours des villes et villages fleuris). Hay was so impressed that he approached the British Tourist Authority (BTA), and he and Len Lickorish, then Director General of the BTA, set up a committee to run a British version, "Britain in Bloom". It was piloted by the British Tourist Authority in 1963 (Lewisham being part of that pilot), and went national in 1964.

Many organisations were invited to help, including: The Automobile Association; London Tourist Board; National Farmers' Union; London Parks; Institute of Parks and Recreation Administration; National Association of Rural Communities; Royal Horticultural Society; Royal Automobile Club; The Tourist Boards of England, Scotland and Wales; The National Federation of Women's Institutes; Civic Trust; Keep Britain Tidy Group; the Flowers and Plants Council; The Horticultural Trades Association; The British Hotels and Restaurants Association; The Society of Town Clerks; Townswomen's Guild and British Airways. Despite this impressive list, Roy Hay later reflected that the initial reaction of the horticultural trade and local authorities was lukewarm.

Nevertheless, regional committees were quickly formed, and in 1964 Bath became the first national winner. From 1964 to 1969 inclusive there was an overall national winner. From 1970, however, the competition was divided up into a range of categories, because of the difficulty of comparing settlements of different sizes fairly.

The British Tourist Authority managed the competition until 1983 when the Government Department sponsoring the BTA felt that it should relinquish the responsibility. The Tidy Britain Group (the group responsible for the Keep Britain Tidy campaign, now known as EnCams) took over; it already had a long association with the competition. To mark the changeover, 1983 was celebrated as "Beautiful Britain in Bloom Year". Sir Lawrie Barratt of Barratt Developments expressed his support to the Tidy Britain Group for the competition and provided sponsorship until 1989.

More categories and awards were added, in part reflecting a greater range of settlements, but also to recognise other elements of horticulture, including landscaping, and also to recognise the strenuous efforts to beautify the urban areas of the larger cities. McDonald's began sponsoring the competition from 1990, which led to focus on littering behaviour and the implementation of a Children's Painting Competition Calendar. In 2001, the event was organised jointly by EnCams and the Royal Horticultural Society, and from November 2001 the RHS took full control as the organising body of Britain in Bloom.

Year Organising Body Main Sponsor 1964 to 1982 British Tourist Authority No main sponsor 1983 to 1989 Tidy Britain Group Barratt Developments 1990 to TBC Tidy Britain Group McDonald's 2001 Tidy Britain Group & Royal Horticultural Society TBC 2002 to 2003 Royal Horticultural Society B&Q (from 2003)The Garden (Journal of The Royal Horticultural Society), April 2003, p233 2004 to 2006 Royal Horticultural Society B&Q 2007 to 2009 Royal Horticultural Society Shredded Wheat 2011 to 2011 Royal Horticultural Society Anglian Windows 2012 - Royal Horticultural Society No main sponsor In 2017, after winning Britain in Bloom Champion of Champions, Elswick admitted to having previously cheated in the competition three years earlier. The volunteers engaged a specialist company to design a display which came in ready assembled trays.

Paul Hayhurst, Chairman of Elswick Parish Council and Elswick in Bloom co-ordinator, said "This result is entirely down to the hard work of volunteers in Elswick who have transformed our village". The Parish Council accounts for 2017-18 contradict this statement though as they show the local lengthsman was paid £3,500 to plant summer plants.

In September 2025, Paul Hayhurst, who had remained as Elswick in Bloom co-ordinator, informed the public that Elswick would no longer be entering the competition. Paul Hayhurst stated that the chairman of North West in Bloom has been "quite rude" when he came to judge the village. Elswick were later withdrawn from the competition before the results were announced.

Structure

The competition currently has twelve entry categories, most of which are determined by population size. Within each category, similarly sized communities compete across a spectrum of horticultural endeavour, community participation and environmental responsibility, which includes dealing with issues of litter, graffiti and vandalism.

Category A Small Village Village Large Village Category B Small Town Town Large Town Category C Small City City Large City Category D Urban Community Category E Small Coastal (electoral roll up to 12K) Large Coastal (electoral roll over 12K)

Judging RHS Britain in Bloom encompasses 18 Regions/ Nations (12 English regions, as well as Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey).

Judging takes place over two years in two stages:

Regional competition: Entries are first submitted by voluntary local 'Bloom' Committees, depending upon the area, to Local Authorities, Town or Parish Councils. These communities take part in their regional competition, for example South West in Bloom. The local volunteers are colloquially known as "bloomers". Judging takes place in June/July, and winners are announced during local presentations between August and November.

UK-wide: After the judging of the regional stage, Committees representing their nation/region select entrants for the second UK-wide stage. To ensure that effort is sustained over time, this second stage of judging takes place in August the year after they qualify. Winners of the UK judging are announced at a prestigious ceremony in September/October.

National winners

2020 to 2022 KEY Winner Known Category Dormant Category Not Created/No longer exists Winner unknown/Not known if category exists

YearChampion of ChampionsFrom Bloom Review, Issue 8, Spring 2006: Champion of Champions - This is a category within the RHS Britain in Bloom UK Finals where selected communities, of all population sizes, who have demonstrated sustained high standards in the Bloom campaign, are invited to compete for the title of ‘Champion of Champions’. These entries are judged against the Bloom criteria relevant to their population, and then compared to determine the overall winner.LargeCityCitySmallCity LargeTownTownSmallTownLargeVillageVillageSmallVillageUrbanCommunityBusiness Improvement District Coastal Resort Coastal up to 12K Coastal over 12K 2022 Amersham Rochdale Dunstable Amersham Randalstown Cullybackey Cullybackey Community Partnership Ulverston North Berwick 2021 Weymouth 2020

2010 to 2019

YearChampion of ChampionsLargeCityCitySmallCity LargeTownTownSmallTownLargeVillageVillageSmallVillageUrbanCommunityBusiness Improvement District Coastal Resort Coastal up to 12K Coastal over 12K 2019 Perth Amersham Goring-on-Thames Green Moor Bath, Somerset & Canary Wharf Llandudno 2018 Truro Aberdeen Perth Royal Hillsborough Halesowen 2017 ElswickFinalists 2017 rhs.org.uk 2016 Ahoghill Wigan Aberdeen Harrogate Coleraine Haddington Freckleton Hillsborough Castlecaulfield and Elswick, joint winners not awarded Kippax, Leeds not awarded St Brelade, Jersey Southport 2015 Norton in Hales Birmingham Dundee Bury St Helier, Jersey Falmouth Ahoghill Coupar Angus Spofforth Wolfscastle Woodlesford London Bridge St Pierre du Bois, Guernsey Cleethorpes 2014 Shrewsbury Sunderland Oldham Bath Truro Shevington & District and Halstead, joint winners Dunnington Hillsborough Moorsholm and Norton in Hales, joint winners Bray Village Port Marine & Village Quarter (Portishead) Hunstanton St Peter Port 2013 Lytham Edinburgh London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and Stockton-on-Tees, joint winners Shrewsbury Biddulph Morpeth Ahoghill Coupar Angus Pembridge Barton in Fabis and Scarva, joint winners Woolton (Liverpool) Aberdour Village and Dartmouth, joint winners Prestatyn 2012 Broughshane Birmingham Oldham Loughborough Belper Halstead Wimborne Market Bosworth Spofforth Stanghow Chirk (Wales) and Kippax (Leeds), joint winners Lytham and North Berwick Herne Bay 2011 Cricklade Bristol Stockton-on-Tees Derry Glenrothes Rustington St Martin, Guernsey Broughshane Luddenden Loughgall Uddingston Whitby Cleethorpes 2010 Falkland Sunderland Tameside Crawley Perth City of London Garstang Comrie Norton in Hales Stanghow and Wolfscastle Beighton, Sheffield North Berwick Scarborough, North Yorkshire

2000 to 2009