Bath Business Improvement District has been awarded gold at the UK Finals of Britain in Bloom held at the RHS Lindley Hall in London, thanks to the help of the 16th Bath (Walcot) Rainbows.
The success was due in a large part to the children from Bath Rainbows group, with the ‘In Bloom’ judges being particularly charmed by the groups’ work tidying and putting new flowers in the Walcot Street fountain as part of the Wild Walcot project. The judges added that they had a wonderful start to their tour of Bath when they met some of the children involved at the fountain.
The national judges, who visited the city in July, commented favourably on the Wild Walcot Partnership, the high quality of maintenance in Parade Gardens, the team work and community drive behind the renovation of Manvers Street and public landscaping in Brunel Square.
Their favourite planters were those in Upper Borough Walls; “Lush” they said, “Just lush”. They identified the ‘Bee Kind’ initiative in SouthGate as a great example of what can be done for urban pollinators and were impressed by the work of the World Heritage Site team to preserve the city. They were also very enthusiastic with how well the BID had done as a first time entrant to the Britain in Bloom competition compared to other teams that have been doing this for years.
“It is thrilling to receive such a high accolade from the RHS and be presented with our certificate by Baroness Floella Benjamin,” said Allison Herbert, CEO of Bath BID. “This award represents the creativity and hard work of many people and organisations across the city beyond the BID, including Milsom Place, Kingsmead Square, Wild Walcot, SouthGate and all the pubs, shops and restaurants that make the city look great as well as the hard work from the Bath in Bloom committee and, of course, the Royal Victoria Parks Department of B&NES. The judges noticed this, commenting particularly on the cooperation and relationships across the city.”
Bath BID has also won gold at the Royal Horticultural Society’s South West in Bloom competition and the Bath in Bloom Committee won gold in the ‘Champion of Champions’ competition.