Section C - Community Participation
In this section the judges will be looking for your year-round achievements in 5 key areas:
C1. Development and continuity
C2. Communication and education
C3. Community involvement
C4. Year-round involvement
C5. Funding and support
Each of these key areas will make up 5% of your overall score and be worth a maximum of 10 points.
Community participation is crucial to the success and continuity of Yorkshire in Bloom campaigns and judges will consider community participation in all appropriate areas of the local campaign’s initiatives. For example they will consider whether the local campaign has engaged the community in responsible resource management or educated them about this important issue or whether they have tried to educate and engage the community with regards to local heritage sites. Although this section does outline the key areas of community participation, please bear this important core pillar in mind across all of your Bloom activities and initiatives.
The judges will take account of:
| SECTION C: COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION – 50 points; 25% | |
|---|---|
| C1. DEVELOPMENT AND CONTINUITY – 10 points; 5% | |
| Areas/activities which may be included | Development and sustainability of the local bloom initiative and evidence of on-going projects |
| What is assessed | Has the local bloom campaign: Considered how to maintain and/or improve upon current achievements in the future? Are the initiatives/works of the campaign sustainable for the longer term? Have any plans been developed to ensure on-going benefits to the community of the local bloom campaign? Are there plans in place for on-going projects? Has the bloom campaign established a structure and support network to ensure its own existence and/or development in the future? |
| C2. COMMUNICATION AND EDUCATION – 10 points; 5% | |
| Areas/activities which may be included | Publicity materials; press coverage; signage/interpretation; displays; engaging with schools, young people and/or other community groups; community awareness and understanding; educational and awareness campaigns on key issues |
| What is assessed | Judges will expect to see evidence of public awareness campaigns and educational programmes generated and/or actively supported by the local bloom campaign. In this section they will particularly be looking for activities and initiatives to inform, educate and engage children and young people. The Judges will also want to see if the local bloom campaign has engaged with their local media (newspapers, magazines, radio, TV as applicable)? |
| C3. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT – 10 points; 5% | |
| What is assessed | Has the local bloom campaign made every effort to include and secure community involvement which is representative of the community’s size and diversity? Have they engaged the community across all ages, ethnicities, races, cultures, religions, abilities (i.e. special needs and the disabled) and incorporated community reparation volunteers? (Reminder: community participation should be representative of your community. For example: If you have a young and ethnically diverse community the judges will expect to see them engaged with your Bloom initiatives.) Has the bloom campaign supported and encouraged any Neighbourhood Awards groups in their area or helped support the start up of new Neighbourhood Awards groups? |
| C4. YEAR-ROUND INVOLVEMENT – 10 points; 5% | |
| Areas that may be included | Entries will be expected to show evidence of a year-round programme of activity through photographs, sample promotional materials, press clippings, calendar of events etc. Some examples of “out of season” activities would be litter picks, leaf clearing, fundraising events, repairing/preparing of landscape areas and street furniture, educational activities, etc. |
| What is assessed | Judges will be evaluating whether the local bloom campaign has been active and has engaged the community throughout the year. The judges will evaluate this based primarily on the content of the 15 minute presentation however, they will also take into account other supporting evidence (see above) which can be displayed/distributed on the day and/or included in the portfolio. (See presentation and portfolio guidelines for additional details. Note the portfolio is not marked and it is the content of the presentation which is important not the style.) |
| C5. FUNDING AND SUPPORT – 10 points; 5% | |
| Areas that may be included | Both efforts made to secure support and amount of support actually secured for the local bloom campaign. “Support” can mean not just funds but also the active engagement of the local government, commercial and corporate sectors, local businesses/offices and the general public in the campaign (i.e. maintenance support from council services, shopkeeper cleaning up & greening up their own storefront, local business sending staff out to volunteer on a Bloom project etc. qualify as active engagement). |
| What is assessed | Has the local bloom campaign made efforts to engage and secure support from local government, the commercial/corporate sector and local businesses? Have there been activities to raise support and/or funds from the general public? Has sufficient support been secured to ensure the campaign is able to deliver its objectives? Is there a plan of action to secure sufficient continuing support for the development and on-going projects of the campaign? |
Yorkshire in Bloom is a proactive campaign of communities creating long-term improvements to their local environment. As such it is expected that a diverse range of community members will be involved in the campaign and that there will be broad based public awareness and support. Focusing on community participation may require some local authorities and public bodies involved to in driving local bloom initiatives to take on the role of enabler or advisor to generate that participation.
Yorkshire in Bloom’s positioning as a community improvement and environmentally responsible campaign means that the judges will want to see how finalists intend to continue to develop their programme. Judges will also be very interested to see that young people and schools have been involved and that care has been taken to make effective use of the educational opportunities which exist. Furthermore, Yorkshire in Bloom is not just about spring and summer floral displays; it is about a year-round programme of activity to improve, enhance and maintain the environment around us and keep the community actively engaged in keeping things at their best.
The judges will be looking for campaigns which:
- Evidence thoughtful planning of how to maintain the improvements they make and how to develop in the future.
- Have an effective communication and education programme evidenced by the level of awareness and understanding in the community as well as by physical evidence such as informative signs and displays, press clippings, publicity materials etc.
- Evidence a broad base of community involvement across all ages, ethnic and/or religious backgrounds, socio-economic groups with a particular effort to engage young people/schools/colleges as appropriate to their community.
- Have a year-round programme of activity to keep their community engaged and at its best throughout the year (not just spring/summer displays and activities).
- Have secured funding/sponsorship and/or support for their activities and the support of government, commercial, corporate, business sectors for their campaign.
Please note that all marking sheets can be downloaded from the Yorkshire in Bloom website:
www.yorkshireinbloom.co.uk