60 years of Britain in Bloom

This year, 2024, marks the 60th anniversary of Britain in Bloom. Over six decades, millions of people have participated, enabling them to get to know their neighbours, make new friends and forge stronger community networks.

“The 60th anniversary is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate community gardening,” says Kay Clark, RHS Community Development Manager. “The theme for this milestone year is ‘friendship’. Gardening brings people together and enriches lives. Social connections are fundamental to good health and wellbeing, and for the Bloom 60th anniversary, we’ll be celebrating the friendships and social benefits forged through plants and gardening.”

Friendships made through gardening

To celebrate this special anniversary, the RHS are sharing your inspiring stories of friendships that have blossomed across the UK because of Britain in Bloom, It’s Your Neighbourhood or other community gardening projects. Get in touch and share your unique stories about the friends you’ve made through gardening; perhaps someone was there for you through a difficult time, helped you to gain confidence and feel yourself again, or maybe you simply found joy through a shared passion for nature. How has being part of a community gardening group connected you to other people?

Spreading the joy

People often join community gardening groups at a time of change in their lives and many make new life-long relationships. When Henrike Yates moved from Germany to Kinnesswood, Scotland, she wanted to meet new friends and feel part of the community. Henrike says:

“The group has made me feel that I have arrived, I belong, I have friends – and that this is my village.”

Rebecca Lund considers her fellow Bloomers in Starbeck, Harrogate “a group of friends with a common interest, who can rely on one another for support.”

For Peter Todd, a chance encounter with It’s Your Neighbourhood volunteers in Workington, Cumbria has given him a new sense of purpose. Peter says:

“Because of that chance meeting in the churchyard, I have enjoyed the company of strangers that have now become firm friends and given this 85-year-old a new lease of life.”

Jenny Hearth and her neighbours in Lowestoft found solace in gardening during tough times. “Despite the challenges Covid threw at us all, we have come through as a great team in Walmer Road,” says Jenny. 

Read these and other amazing stories that groups have already shared.

Gardener, TV presenter and writer, Rachel de Thame, is looking forward to celebrating this special anniversary with the RHS. Rachel says:

“I’m passionate about community gardening and its many benefits and cannot wait to hear all about the amazing friendships that you have made. There are other ways that you can get involved in the 60th anniversary celebrations. This year, the RHS will also be celebrating the anniversary at its gardening and flower shows. For now though, do get in touch with those friendship stories.”

Inspirational stories of relationships flourishing through community gardening will be added to the friendship story web page throughout the year.

Further activities are planned for 2024 to celebrate this milestone anniversary. For more details please come back to this page.

Positively impacting millions

Together, Bloom and its grass roots version It’s Your Neighbourhood, are the UK’s largest community gardening campaign, involving 3,000 groups and hundreds of thousands of volunteers each year. Participating groups vary from urban communities to rural villages, and from people who look after a tiny patch of land to those in charge of a whole town. Their activities positively impact millions more people, who benefit from the cared-for communal green spaces, brightened high streets and more cohesive communities. Today, Bloom groups are embracing sustainable gardening practices and engaging and supporting younger members of the community to get involved in gardening.

Bloom is one element of a much larger group of people who garden communally, and by celebrating the friendships formed throughout community gardening, the RHS is recognising all the people who contribute across the UK.

Bloom covers the four nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Ulster, as well as the Channel Islands, and is managed by the RHS in partnership with 16 Regions and Nations. Find out more about community gardening and how you can get involved with the RHS.