North Berwick in Bloom - 2024 UK finalist

In 2024, North Berwick in Bloom (NBinB) was one of four of our groups representing Scotland in the UK RHS Britain in Bloom finals. The group was recognised with a Gold medal certificate, and Alex Hutchinson, a member of NBinB, was awarded a Community Champion Award. Read the full story.

The group has developed strong connections and partnerships across the entire community, including the council, other community groups, businesses, organisations, schools, youth groups and Churches. 

North Berwick in Bloom (NBiB) works all year round to improve the local environment and works with other local groups to raise awareness of issues such as recycling, litter, sustainability and biodiversity. Te group has a great working relationship with East Lothian Council. NBiB maintains over 100 seasonal planters, a tulip festival with 40 varieties in spring, 100 hanging baskets in summer and 30 permanently planted beds. It looks after a historic rock garden, fernery, stumpery, daffodil display, a shade bed, a subtropical bed and a semi desert bed, uses annual mixes for insect friendly displays around town, and maintains beds of biblical plants at a church. The group assists the local gardening club, the day centre for elderly people, and local schools.

In 2023, the group was recognised with the Beautiful Scotland discretionary award - the VisitScotland Award for Tourism: NBinB's volunteers plant colourful displays at the railway station to warmly welcome visitors, and hanging baskets and planters in the High Street and harbour to enhance the natural beauty of the old town centre. They enjoy using the Keep Scotland Beautiful annual theme to develop storyboards and noticeboards, to engage, inspire and educate locals and tourists alike - some of whom return every summer to discover the group’s latest planting theme. The group coordinates with the Coastal Museum to point out important features of the town’s varied past. They offer popular guided walking tours of the park, and a Coastal Flowers trail as part of an annual national Festival held in the town, also providing vibrant planters to decorate festival venues, and an annual Tulip Festival is a visitor attraction in itself.

NBinB works with the Business Association and the local council to coordinate displays with their planting, and engage local schools, Brownies and youth groups to help them. They particularly hope that their plants and stories encourage people to discover new plants to grow themselves, and leave the town inspired, refreshed and with good memories.

In 2022, North Berwick in Bloom was one of two groups representing Scotland in the RHS UK-wide Britain in Bloom finals. The group won a well-deserved Gold medal and were overall Coastal winners. Libby Morris, Chair of the group was also recognised with a Community Champion Award.

In 2019, as well as winning the Premier 'Rosebowl' Award, the group picked up the Community Horticulture Discretionary Award: NBiB maintains over one hundred planters with seasonal bedding throughout the year, along with ninety hanging baskets in summer in the town centre. Thirty permanent beds have been created which are all maintained by volunteers. NBiB also has responsibility for several distinct areas within the town park: an historic rock garden, fernery, stumpery, daffodil display with 33 varieties, a shade bed, a subtropical bed and a dry semi desert bed. NBiB organises a tuple festival, uses annual mixes for low cost, insect friendly displays in spaces around town, maintains a bed of biblical plants at a church and provides floral displays for the golf club.  With council colleagues, NBiB designs a carpet bed each year, 2019’s is based on the Solheim Cup as the European team captain lives in the town. NBiB works very closely with East Lothian Council gardeners to mitigate the effect of financial cutbacks and helps the local gardening club, the day centre for elderly people, and local schools with their gardening activities.