Shrewsbury wins Heart of England in Bloom Competition

Shrewsbury has once again shown that it is blooming marvellous by winning the annual Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Heart of England in Bloom competition.

The results were announced at an awards ceremony in Coventry on Friday.

Shrewsbury has won the Horticultural Excellence Award, Small City category and the overall winner in the Heart of England in Bloom competition, which is awarded to ‘exceptional achievers who have demonstrated a consistently high standard in all areas of the judging criteria.’

The judges visited the town on 23 July 23 with a four-hour tour starting at Shrewsbury Town Council’s Weeping Cross Depot visiting a number of locations before moving on to the town centre and the award-winning Dingle gardens.

The town was judged against exacting criteria for not only its spectacular floral features, but also on the work that the community engages in on a local level and the conservation and recycling schemes in place to help protect our environment.

Keith Roberts, chairman of the Shrewsbury in Bloom committee, said he was delighted with the results, especially considering this year’s challenging weather conditions. We are extremely proud to have won the category. The Town Council’s staff have worked hard to ensure that the floral features around the town have looked their best throughout the summer.

“Shrewsbury in Bloom isn’t just about flowers, and it was important to show the judges that the whole community gets involved in the Bloom ethos. We have taken the judges to a wide variety of community projects this year and we have demonstrated that there are so many great projects that help to improve not only local areas but also the lives of our residents.”

Helen Ball, town clerk, added: “This is the first time that Shrewsbury Town Council has won the overall category since the Council’s creation. It is testament to the hard work by so many people here in Shrewsbury that we have maintained our standards with this award. I would like to congratulate everyone who has helped us win the category, including the exceptional floral displays throughout the Town.

“We have seen a great collaborative effort from not only Shrewsbury Town Council, our partners at Shropshire Council, and the Shrewsbury Business Improvement District (BID) who have helped in supporting us with organising the purchase of hundreds of hanging baskets.

“The Bloom campaign is all about how the community comes together and we can see the civic pride in our town, which I think we have been able to demonstrate to the judges this year and Winning the Small City category awards reflects that.”