‘We like to plant smiles’ - Roberttown In Bloom celebrates being crowned BEST large village in Yorkshire

Roberttown received the prestigious award at last Thursday’s ceremony, as well as claiming gold for the second successive year.

Founded in 2019, the band of volunteers, who were also named as best newcomers in 2022, have been determined to “plant smiles” throughout the community.

Louise Hardy, chairperson of Roberttown In Blown, said of the success: “To be crowned as the best village in Yorkshire is a testimony to everybody who has supported us in our quest to do well and everybody deserves the accolade we have received. The rewards speak for themselves.

“Our first entry was last year, so with a bit of experience behind us, and a growing team of volunteers who are multiskilled in all kinds of talent, we put together an entry which took into consideration sustainability, conservation and wildlife, as well as overall planting enjoyment - we like to plant smiles, which is why we link up very easily with other community groups, pre-schools and Roberttown School, so to get the award itself was definitely a combined effort from the whole community.

She added: “The group has come together and formed friendships. It means when we are out and about planting we can chat to people who pass by. It is all about community spirit.

“I would just like to say a great big thank you to all of our sponsors, especially staff at Kirklees Council and our ward councillors, and the support of our volunteers. Everyone has made this possible.”

Praising the village, the judges at the 2023 awards said: “Roberttown is an attractive village high up in West Yorkshire with an abundance of open space and magnificent views.

“The village is a pure delight with a wonderful community atmosphere. There is so much enthusiasm within the group.

“The group all work very hard and are extremely well informed and knowledgeable and we wish them well in the future.”

And the group have already highlighted three “key” points towards their project for success in the 2024 Yorkshire In Bloom awards.

Louise said: “We have put the foundations down for three key projects. We have formed a partnership with Roberttown Care Home and we are looking to make growing and planting smiles much more accessible for the elderly, wheelchair dependent and mobility restricted people that live there, including the inclusion of a wheelchair access planter.

“We also donated a wheelchair accessible planter to a young girl in our village with severe disabilities, who is a pupil at Hollybank, which we will be featuring in next year’s entry, which is about accessibility and inclusivity.

“We are also looking to support Huddersfield Street Kitchen with our growing ‘incredible edible’ group which we established this year by growing our own vegetables and fruit, as well as looking to expand our input into local schools and pre-schools with more sustainable growing and critter conservation.

“These are the three core activities which we have established this year and we will be looking to improve upon those and, hopefully, we can keep those awards.

“We just want to keep reaching out to as many people as possible who live in Roberttown and plant as many smiles, in as many ways, as we can.”

For anybody who would like more information about Roberttown In Bloom, or if anyone would like to join the group of volunteers, contact Louise on 07841589526.

Other businesses, schools and establishments across the Spen Valley and Batley which also received prestigious awards included Oakwell Hall and Country Park, Cleckheaton Library and the Jo Cox Community Wood.

Congratulations to all our winners. If your business, school or community group received an award from this year’s Yorkshire In Bloom contest, please contact us via [email protected]