Yorkshire Rose Neighbourhood Awards
Judging Guidelines
What the judges will want to see
Judges will be looking to see what your community has achieved since it first became established. Remember, the neighbourhood awards is not competitive in the same way as the other categories are. Judges will wish to see the efforts being made for the longer-term future to improve eye-sores and to disguise gap sites. In particular, no part of the entry should be littered, and an active effort should have been made to eliminate graffiti.
SECTION A - General – Evidence of management and administration of effort including the engagement of the wider community.
Regular communication with members of your community and progress reports of your neighbourhood activity will maintain public interest and, hopefully, build support for the Campaign, both in financial and practical terms.
The judges will be happy to meet the local Press and will provide supportive comments concerning the entry. They will not indicate whether the entry is better or worse than any others they have judged.
Media attention is important: retain any press articles and bring them to the judge’s attention. Community effort should be prevalent throughout. Public support will oil the wheels of fundraising efforts!
SECTION B - Floral Displays – Design and quality of features and displays, standards of maintenance. Evidence of spring displays and autumn colour will also be considered.
Floral displays are an important element of your entry, but must be appropriate to the area. Again, the judges will want to see evidence of community involvement.
| Choice of plants | Appropriate in terms of flowering period and habit. Sufficient variation, a mix of permanent and temporary. |
|---|---|
| Colours | Is there a scheme or theme? Appropriate colours to location. |
| Containers | Pleasing and well related to their planting and location. Should support plants throughout the bedding season in terms of their size and water retention qualities. |
| Volume | Assessment of too many/too few plants to enhance the area. |
| Maintenance | Watering, dead heading, feeding and weeding is important. |
| Quality of plants | Good quality plants, obviously flourishing. No obvious signs of pests and diseases or deficiencies. |
SECTION C - Hard and Soft Landscaping Projects – Design and quality of plantings and standard of appropriate maintenance
In some circumstances in the urban areas it may not be possible to undertake a great deal of permanent planting. However, where it has been possible, the judges’ will take account of:
| New planting | How much new planting has been undertaken on an annual basis? Is there a long-term plan for the whole area or district etc.? |
|---|---|
| Choice of plants | Appropriate varieties of both newly planted and recently (up to 5 years) planted areas (including mixes of trees, shrubs and herbaceous planting). |
| Quality of plants | Appropriate size for planting situation, appropriate soil type, etc. |
| Maintenance | Could include irrigation considerations, weeding, thinning, trimming or pruning as appropriate. |
| Overgrown or unmanaged sites | Is there planned action for overgrown or unmanaged sites? Co-ordination and liaison with appropriate landowners. |
| Associated planting | Could include bulb planting, ground cover, grass areas or bedding |
SECTION D -Cleanliness and Recycling – Absence of litter, dog fouling, graffiti, fly posting, weeds and other associated factors.
The effects of litter and graffiti can spoil areas. It is therefore important that your group finds ways to tackle these issues. Should your entry experience vandalism, the judges will be keen to hear ways in which you have tried to address the problem and they do understand these issues take time to resolve.
Is there a co-ordinated approach to the choice of the street furniture - seats, litter-bins, etc? Whilst you may not have any direct control over these matters, an effective group may be able influence those who do.
Conservation projects are possible in the urban areas and the judges will again be asking what action has been taken in this respect.
More and more importance is being placed on recycling; the judges would like to see that recycling schemes are in place. Why not consider green recycling such as composting and water conservation?
SECTION E - Overall Impression - Judges will be looking to see:
If this is a genuine community project - have all sectors of the community been involved, from young people to the not so young?
Have you covered all the points on the Judges Checklist?
Neighbourhood Category Guidelines
This category enables the Yorkshire in Bloom campaign to welcome communities just starting out on their enhancement of their local areas and to provide guidance and support to these communities. This includes a judge’s assessment leading to an achievement award and helpful and realistic advice on ways the communities can develop their activities to create long lasting improvement to their local environments.
The Neighbourhood Awards Category is a non-competitive category i.e. the judges will not judge one community against another or announce an individual category winner.
Instead the campaign recognises that communities are just starting out and each will approach the needs of their local areas very differently.
Each community’s activities will be assessed on their own merit by the judges against Yorkshire in Bloom criteria and neighbourhoods will see recognition of their own improvements year on year through the awarding of an annual certificate of achievement.
Why Participate?
Communities participating in the neighbourhood’s category will be able to access advice and guidance from experienced communities and judges in their effort to improve their local environments. They will be able to use the judging assessment in late summer as a motivating deadline to galvanise community action towards a target date and ensure tasks undertaken are of the greatest benefit to the community and are the most meaningful in providing real sustainable environmental improvements.
Communities involved in Yorkshire in Bloom create real benefits for their communities as a result of their participation:
- Increased resident pride in their local area and sense of community
- Better communication across the whole community on matters of local interest
- Stimulation of voluntary work and better co-operation between residents business and local authorities together with the involvement of young people.
- A real reduction in vandalism, graffiti, fly posting and litter
- Encouragement of re-cycling and a reduction in waste
- Sustainable improvements and conservation benefits to local surroundings that can be built on year on year
How can my community get involved?
Communities wishing to get involved in the neighbourhoods category should register their interest with Yorkshire in Bloom in the early part of the year and build their entry until judging in late summer. The results will be announced in September at the Annual Yorkshire in Bloom Ceremony, where certificates will be awarded as below:
Outstanding
Showing promise and ability to develop further in the campaign.Merit
A good all round performance and show potential for outstanding achievement in the future.Improvement
The entrant is making a good solid start with foundations for merit in the future.
Participation is free to all entrants in the Neighbourhood Category.
The Yorkshire Rose Neighbourhood Awards are supported by the Royal Horticultural Society through the Britain in Bloom Campaign.
The RHS offer a free advisory service for neighbourhood award participants. E-mails should be sent to the RHS Advisory team on advisory@rhs.org.uk with “BIBNA” in the subject heading
Judging Matrix for the Neighbourhood Awards
Please assess each set of maximum points using this Judging Matrix adding each score to the report sheet before totalling it up to achieve the overall result.
| Condition | Max.Points | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | 10 | |
|
Outstanding (170-200 points) Showing promise and ability to develop further in the campaign. |
20 19 18 17 |
10 9 |
|
Merit (100-169 points) A good all round performance and shows potential for outstanding achievement in the future. |
16 15 14 13 12 11 |
8 7 6 |
|
Improvement (0-99 points) The entrant is making a good solid start with foundations for merit in the future. |
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 |
5 4 3 2 1 |