About South Swindon In Bloom

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) organises the Britain in Bloom competition which is entered by various communities across the UK. Over 1,600 communities enter each year, participating in their local regions “in Bloom” campaign.

South West in Bloom is one of sixteen regional/national competitions that makes up RHS Britain in Bloom, which is the biggest horticultural campaign in Europe. The aim of the community groups that take part each year is to improve and regenerate our local environments and neighbourhoods.  This can be through the imaginative planting of trees, shrubs, flowers and landscaping, conservation and recycling projects, and to sweep away the eyesores that blight our streets, such as litter, graffiti and vandalism.

The South Swindon in Bloom entry is predominantly in an urban area situated to the south of the main Bristol to London railway line with a diverse population of around 65,000.

South Swindon Parish Council is responsible for the ground’s maintenance and street cleaning operations within public open spaces, roadside verges, and pavements. In addition, the Parish Council look after 21 play areas and manage 14 allotment sites with 576 plots.

In October 2023 South Swindon earned a gold award in the Tesco Cup for South West In Bloom.

This was the first year entering into the main competition after 3 years competing in the pennant class, so to achieve gold at the first try is a fantastic achievement and everyone involved should be very proud!!

In 2024, as winners of the Tesco Cup, we were entered into the Champion of Champions Cup where we were against high quality and experienced competition from Babbacombe Bay, Thornbury, Yeovil and Bath. All entries including South Swindon in Bloom were awarded a Gold Medal!!

Thank you to all the fantastic volunteer groups and individuals who have contributed to the In Bloom entry. Their efforts have also been recognised with a strong showing in the In Your Neighbourhood competition, with some of the groups achieving top marks.

Britain in Bloom is focused on three core pillars;

• Horticultural Achievement

• Environmental Responsibility

• Community Participation

This year (2025) we will be really focusing our efforts on these specific areas and hope to keep our Gold award for another year!