Success for Alness 2007

Alness won a Royal Horticultural Society GOLD MEDAL again this year in Beautiful Britain in Bloom (our 4th). Gold Medals are only given for marks over 170 out of 200, so once again we excelled ourselves. Not only that, but our Christel McIntosh won the RHS Britain in Bloom Outstanding Person Award for her Personal Contribution to the National Britain in Bloom Campaign. This award is given to one person each year throughout Britain and almost always goes to judges who have worked hard for RHS. Very seldom has it ever gone to a member of a community.

In the Scotland in Bloom competition the previous week we also won the Best Small Town in Scotland Award.

The Britain in Bloom judges' comments were very encouraging. They said" In spite of bad weather during the preceeding weeks, as well as for judging, high standards of floral display were on show in Alness. The town's trademark cottage-style planting was, as usual, provided to an excellent standard by the skilled volunteers. Alness is giving a higher proirity to sustainability - recycling, waste management and conservation- through many innovative initiatives.

It is also a learning community that continues to develop by implementing the previous recommendations for improvement and is a progressive entry obviously committed to making yet further improvements to Alness. Overall the entry was presented at an outstanding level, addressing all aspects of the judging criteria; well worthy of the gold medal standard attained.