Romford BID’s Julie Frost and Michelle Petty at Britain in Bloom (credit: Romford BID)
The winners for the UK’s largest community gardening competition were announced at the awards ceremony in London on Monday, 23 October.
Romford were awarded a Silver Gilt in the BIDS, Town Centres & City Centres category and was up against Darlington and Harrogate BID. Romford Business Improvement District won over the judges in July when they escorted them around the town and showed them how floral and wildlife creations installed throughout Romford have greatly revitalised and enhanced the town.
The BID has transformed areas within the town with hanging baskets, planters, raised beds, community gardens and living walls encouraging sustainability, helping wildlife prosper, and making some areas of the town much more appealing and enticing.
BBC One’s The One Show celebrated all the winners on their show on Monday.
This year’s win follows Romford BID’s past successes in the Britain in Bloom Awards. In 2022, Romford won two coveted awards – the first award came in the “Business Improvement District of the Year” category and not only did the BID receive GOLD they were category winners.
“The second award came in the “Living Wall” category and saw Romford BID recognised with a silver gilt and were category winners.
Romford BID Director, Julie Frost said, “It doesn’t get much better than this – being awarded three years in a row in one of the most respected and competitive environmental awards in the UK and now being awarded and recognised by Britain in Bloom is a fantastic achievement.
“The award is in between silver and gold. It’s their recognition to what we’ve done around the town, be that planting the green – the Living Wall that we’ve got, and other things the we’re doing but it’s also about working with the community. We work with the Council aswell so it’s a real joint effort but is a massive thing for Romford.”
“I think we’re just trying to improve year on year in all that we’re doing. When I first joined the bid three and a half years ago, the first thing we did was put one of the Living Walls at Romford Station. The following year we then put another Living wall next to it. We’ve got the pocket parks. We put the hanging baskets up each year and planters. Now we’re looking at what else we can do. We want businesses to get involved and to have plants and things outside their businesses.”
“We have worked incredibly hard over the last few years to change perceptions of the town and introduce more greenery, colour and wildlife. It is real visible change that our residents, visitors and workers really appreciate and something we will continue to develop into 2024.”
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Tags: Romford, Havering, Romford BID
