Dunstable is officially blooming lovely

The town has won a gold medal in the 2022 RHS Britain in Bloom competition and is winner in the Large Town category as well as winning the Sustainable Gardening Award for the rain gardens planted in the town centre by Central Bedfordshire Council.

Dunstable was praised for its green roofs on bus shelters that withstood this summer’s extreme temperatures and the rain garden planted with perennials that acts as a local flood protection system.

The Town Mayor of Dunstable, Cllr Liz Jones, attended the Britain in Bloom awards ceremony in London at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Lindley Hall on Monday, to collect the awards.

She was accompanied by members of Dunstable in Bloom including the Chairman Hugh Garrod, Sarah Woodruff, Jana Veyres and Sharon Warboys.

The Mayor and the Chairman of Dunstable in Bloom were presented with the Gold medal and Overall Winner award by celebrity gardener and garden writer Rachel de Thame.

Cllr Jones said: “It was an honour to represent Dunstable at the award ceremony and we are delighted to have achieved Gold standard in recognition of all the hard work that goes into making our town an attractive place in which to live, work and visit.

"This is a fantastic recognition of our community and our many partner organisations pulling together to improve our local environment. It was an honour for Dunstable to represent the Anglia region in the UK Britain in Bloom Finals and I think we have done our region proud!”

Hugh Garrod added: “We established Dunstable in Bloom in 2010 with the hope that one day we would be able to participate in the Britain in Bloom finals to showcase all the wonderful work that goes on in our town. I am very proud of what we have achieved together, over many years, and todays awards are something that the whole town can celebrate.”

Speaking at the event Rachel de Thame, said: “It has been fantastic to celebrate gardening groups from across the UK who contribute so much to their communities. From helping wildlife, to engaging young people in the power of plants and helping grow a green future, all of the volunteers work tirelessly to create areas local people can be proud of. Britain is most certainly blooming.”