Find out about the FREE support, resources and recognition through our Beautiful Scotland initiative below.

Keep Scotland Beautiful support and resources

• Mentor support and guidance from our pool of experienced volunteer judges.
• Online Spring Seminar - a chance to meet each other and our volunteer judges/mentors; guidance and advice on the year ahead e.g. how to create a good year-round diary (previously called portfolio), presentation, and planning your judging tour.
• Regional networking events and online info sessions - a chance to get together and learn from each other in an informal and relaxed setting. We’d love to hear from you if your group would like to host a regional get together, or if you have something inspiring you'd like to share.
• We will celebrate achievements through the year e.g. through our website/social media channels/newsletter etc.
• For judged entrants - Premier Award, Category Awards, Medal Certificates, Discretionary and Community Awards
• For non-judged entrants - Certificates of Recognition and Community Awards
• Annual celebration and award ceremony - get together with groups from across Scotland, share highlights and celebrate your achievements.
• Annual seminar - networking, celebrating and sharing inspiring stories. Explore our previous seminars.
• Regular e-newsletter full of inspiring stories, hints, tips, information and funding links - newsletter example here.
• We’d love groups to let everyone know through social media that they're taking part – please tag Keep Scotland Beautiful in your posts so we can react and help spread the word.
• A web page for each group.
• A logo for your use to tell everyone you’re taking part.
• Each year we have an optional theme for groups to focus activities and events around. The theme for 2026 is – Beautiful Scotland is 60!! and People Power: creating a sustainable future through volunteering: this year, we’ll be celebrating 60 years of the Beautiful Scotland initiative, and hope that all of you will join in the celebrations. We’d especially love to encourage any groups who work in partnership across their village, town or city to give the Beautiful Scotland judged catergory a go, and we think the anniversary is a great reason to give it a try!!! As well as using the 60^th diamond anniversary as a theme, we’re tying in with the official theme for the 2026 International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development, which is People Power: Creating a Sustainable Future through Volunteering. As usual, we really look forward to seeing what you come up with!

As well as the above, we have a number of resources, guidance and advice which are available to your group throughout the year. These include:

• Our Climate and Nature Friendly Communities Network web pages: useful websites, previous annual seminar presentations and resources including promotional material, case studies and Beautiful Scotland specific support and resources. To find out if there are any other groups in your area, which you could get in touch with to support or to work with to ‘join-up’ activities in your community, visit this page for a list of all our groups, or explore our online map.
• The standard mark sheet outlining the three pillars of Beautiful Scotland – horticultural achievement, environmental responsibility and community participation - with details on what to focus on under each, guidance and examples (or the Business Improvement District (BID) mark sheet with criteria and guidance
• Guidance on how to showcase your group and achievements across your community under the three pillars.

Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) resources

Through KSB’s membership of the RHS Bloom Federation, groups registered in Beautiful Scotland have access to support and resources from the RHS. These include:

• Regular e-newsletter full of inspiring stories from across the UK.
• Discounted insurance.
• Horticultural advice - free access to the RHS advice team who can answer a wide range of horticultural questions relating to your group’s activities. Simply email: advice@rhs.org.uk, quoting BiBNA in the subject line. Please note that advisors can only help with queries relating to your group’s activities.
• Online ‘Community Gardening Resources’ – you’ll find a wealth of resources such as ‘promoting your group or project’, ‘creating a sensory garden’, through to ‘working with volunteers’.