Blooming beautifully marvellous

Members of the Beautiful Kilconquhar team received their Beautiful Scotland Award from George Anderson of the BBCs Beechgrove Garden (right) and Aberdeen's Lord Provost George Adam (right).

And for St Andrews it was a special night as three awards winged their way back to the town from the glittering ceremony in Aberdeen.

The Wright Sustainability trophy went to the town and along with a gold award in the coastal town category, and another gold for the town’s Business Improvement District (BID), up and running for just eight months.

May Wright, former Chairman of Beautiful Scotland in Bloom, said on presenting The Wright Sustainability Award: “I am privileged to have been involved with Beautiful Scotland for 24 years and am delighted to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of ‘The Bloom’ as it has been fondly known. Beautiful Scotland assists local community groups to enhance their environment through horticultural achievement, environmental responsibility and community participation and it gives me great pleasure to present St Andrews in Bloom with the award my husband Douglas and I donated to the competition in 1999. The group is very deserving of this award for their works to enhance the famous St Andrews links.”

Evelyn Jardine and Ewen Jardine of Freuchie in Flower celebrate receiving their awards from George Adam, Lord Provost of Aberdeen, and George Anderson of the Beechgrove Garden

Gold awards also went to Beautiful Kilconquhar in the Wee Village category; Cupar in Bloom as a Medium Town and to Freuchie in Flower in the Large Village category. Freuchie also received the Discretionary New Entrant Award recognising the villagers’ enthusiasm for taking pride in their local environment, innovation and commitment to community environmental projects

Silver gilt awards went to Aberdour and Kinghorn in the Coastal Village category and Leslie Community Trust picked up a silver award in the Large Village Category.

Derek Robertson, Chief Executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful, commented: “I would like to congratulate all of the Beautiful Scotland 2016 award winners. Quality local environments are vital to vibrant communities and good for business - helping to nurture respect for local places and improve wellbeing.

“All our Beautiful Scotland entrants have committed a lot of their own time and energy to make sure that Scotland’s outdoor spaces are kept clean, green and beautiful. The Beautiful Scotland awards ceremony provides the opportunity to showcase the role that they have played in making a difference. It is vital that we reward their efforts and celebrate their achievements.”

The Growing Kirkcaldy team with their award at the Beautiful Scotland ceremony.

Beautiful Scotland is managed by Keep Scotland Beautiful, a member of the RHS Bloom Federation. Entrants are judged by a team of expert volunteer judges on their year-round achievements. Awards are presented to a range of local authorities and communities who have achieved the highest scores in their categories, with Discretionary Awards given to those who demonstrate excellence in their commitment to the campaign. Some of the winners will go on to represent Scotland in UK RHS Britain in Bloom in 2016.

Dunfermline, Inverkeithing and Low Valleyfied also picked up awards at the ceremony.

And just outside Fife, Kinnesswood took a gold in the Small Village category.