Blackburn is officially ‘bloomin’ lovely’ after scooping gold at regional awards

They say things comes in threes and that’s certainly the case for Blackburn town centre, which scooped a trio of golds at the Britain in Bloom North West Awards.

It’s the fourth year in a row that Blackburn In Bloom, in partnership with Blackburn with Darwen Council, Blackburn BID and the volunteers of Blackburn Horticultural Society, has scooped gold in its category.

At a prestigious ceremony in Southport, Blackburn was crowned winner in the ‘town centre’, ‘BID’ and ‘best overall BID’ categories and representatives were presented with certificates and trophies by the Royal Horticultural Society.

The Council’s Environment Team has been working tirelessly to look after the displays, ensuring that they were watered and fed during the growing season.

The scheme was supported financially by the Blackburn Business Improvement District (BID) which funded additional floral displays and paid for their their upkeep.

Councillor Phil Riley, Executive Member for Growth and Development, said:

The key to this success has been the hard work and dedication of our fantastic gardeners teamed with really successful partnership working in the town.

I’d like to thank and congratulate everyone involved – this really is superb news for our town.

Catherine Price, Blackburn BID Manager, said:

We are thrilled to have won three gold awards at this year’s Britain in Bloom North West Awards. It is a credit to the Council’s dedicated gardeners who have shown so much care and attention to the displays.

We have been overwhelmed with all the messages from visitors commenting on the displays.

Ultimately, we want to attract more people into the town centre and we are doing that by making sure it looks beautiful. We are incredibly proud of what Blackburn In Bloom has achieved. It goes to show what can be achieved when we work together.

Judges from The Royal Horticultural Society toured Blackburn in July, visiting various locations including the Cathedral Gardens, Church Street, Northgate, Exchange Garden Urban Park and Fleming Square’s Italianate Garden, paying particular attention to three key criteria: community participation, environmental responsibility and horticultural achievement.