Inverurie showcases thriving projects in national competition

Inverurie Environmental Improvement Group (IEI) entered Beautiful Scotland in 2022, joining many others from across the country to celebrate and tell the story of their community’s environmental improvement.

Administered by Keep Scotland Beautiful, a member of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Bloom Federation, Beautiful Scotland recognises the efforts of local authorities, communities and businesses that work tirelessly to improve their local cities, towns and villages. The groups have together nurtured an astonishing number of plants, organised local environmental awareness campaigns and encouraged volunteer participation across their community – all to improve the places where they live and work.

Now the final touches have been made to the flourishing planters, the streets are clean and the community is excited to welcome the Beautiful Scotland judges so they can tell their story of hard work, pride and camaraderie.

Judging will take place in Inverurie on Tuesday 9 August from 9.30-12.30pm

Planters and baskets throughout the town add a splash of colour. (Photos: Ian Mitchell IEI vice-chair)

During the judging tour, three themes will be examined - horticultural achievement, community participation and environmental responsibility - to discover which communities have been most successful in developing the attractiveness, cleanliness and sustainability of the places they care for.

The last two years have seen a slightly pared-back version of the Beautiful Scotland competition due to restrictions, but this year Keep Scotland Beautiful plans to hold the full competition, with medal certificates, category awards including the prestigious Rosebowl, and discretionary awards for outstanding performance in areas such as biodiversity, tourism, and community involvement being presented at a ceremony in the autumn.

Some of the winners from Beautiful Scotland 2022 will go on to represent Scotland in the UK-wide RHS Britain in Bloom Finals in 2023. Last year this honour was awarded to two groups and this year, IEI aims to be one of the lucky few.

Juliette Camburn, from Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “Villages, towns and cities that enter Beautiful Scotland have already made a huge contribution in keeping Scotland beautiful for residents and visitors.

“The Beautiful Scotland groups bring people together to build stronger communities and continue to make a massive difference to Scotland’s environment while having fun at the same time. I’d like to wish all the groups the best of luck and look forward to celebrating all their achievements with them at the 2022 award ceremony in September.”

These activities would not happen without the many hundreds of people committing thousands of hours to looking after their communities. The effort of all groups is supporting Keep Scotland Beautiful to tackle climate change and improve the places where we live and work.

John Glover, IEI Chairperson, said: "The IEI committee are delighted to be competing in Beautiful Scotland 2022 in the Medium Town Category. Inverurie is a thriving Town with many voluntary groups, social enterprises, residents, businesses, public sector staff and elected members contributing to its success. This is an exciting time in the development of the Town Centre with the recent vote to extend the Business Improvement District (BID) for another 5 years. The partnership of different community groups working together to improve and enhance the Town Centre will bring benefits for all to enjoy.”