Community groups recognised for environmental efforts

Dundee groups have received trophies and certificates from Keep Scotland Beautiful for their recent successes in the 2022 Beautiful Scotland and It’s Your Neighbourhood Awards.

The Beautiful Scotland scheme celebrates and supports the achievements of communities who have come together to make positive and lasting improvements to their village, town or city.

Bonnie Dundee retained a Gold medal in the City category which encompasses the whole of the city, Broughty Ferry in Bloom retained a Silver Gilt medal in the Coastal Town category for the Ferry ward, while Ardler Environment Group were awarded a Certificate of Recognition.

Neighbourhood Services Committee Convener Heather Anderson said: “Dundee’s community growing and environmental groups, along with partner organisations including the Council, work exceptionally hard throughout the year to improve the city’s environment and provide opportunities for others to get involved.

“Their projects are helping to make a real difference, whether focused on enhancing and cleaning up our open spaces, making Dundee more sustainable and increasing biodiversity, or improving people’s health and wellbeing.

“Collectively, this network of groups and organisations are not only making a huge difference within local communities but also to our city as a whole. I am delighted that all this hard work has been recognised by Keep Scotland Beautiful through the Beautiful Scotland and It’s Your Neighbourhood initiatives. The variety of projects being showcased today and the good that they are achieving is really inspiring and I congratulate everyone involved on their achievements.”

In addition to this, Dundee City Council were awarded the Wright Sustainability Award which is presented to presented to the local authority that demonstrates best practice in sustainability, relating to the Beautiful Scotland campaign aims.

City Development Committee Convener Mark Flynn said: “It’s very positive to see the council’s hard work and commitment to sustainable practices be recognised by Keep Scotland Beautiful with this presentation of the Wright Sustainability Award to Dundee City Council.

“A range of the council’s projects within City Development and Neighbourhood Services were highlighted to the judges on their August visit to the city. These have included work on sustainability, COP26, active travel, as well as biodiversity & recycling and public engagement across all of these issues.”

Juliette Camburn, Keep Scotland Beautiful’s Community Project Officer and lead for Beautiful Scotland and It’s Your Neighbourhood who attended the event said: “It was an honour and a privilege to represent Keep Scotland Beautiful at this celebration event and to finally get together in-person.

“The event enabled us to thank and celebrate all of Dundee’s groups who took part in our national Beautiful Scotland and It’s Your Neighbourhood programmes this year, groups who work tirelessly to enhance their communities for people, for nature and for the planet.

“Our thanks also to the local authority staff and the communities who support you. We hope we can celebrate, support and recognise more Dundee communities in 2023 – please get in touch if you’d like to find out more and join our Beautiful Scotland and It’s Your Neighbourhood family by emailing beautifulscotland@keepscotlandbeautiful.org.”

It’s Your Neighbourhood (IYN) runs alongside Beautiful Scotland but is non-competitive and aims to attract volunteer-led community groups to take-up cleaning and beautifying their local neighbourhoods. Currently, twelve It’s Your Neighbourhood operate in Dundee, including community gardens, school Eco-groups, and Friends of parks groups from across Dundee.

Nine of these It’s Your Neighbourhood groups have been awarded an Outstanding level of achievement and two a Thriving level. Ten groups also received a Certificate of Distinction for groups which have consistently grown and improved over the years of taking part.

More information about the 2022 Beautiful Scotland and It’s Your Neighbourhood Awards can be found on the Keep Scotland Beautiful website.

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