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Beautiful Awards celebrate Perth and

Kinross successes Golden annual ceremony recognises Perth and ’ efforts to improve environmental quality

Community groups, local authorities and businesses from across Scotland gathered yesterday (Wednesday 14 September) at the Aberdeen Beach Ballroom to celebrate the 50th annual Beautiful Scotland Awards, organised by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful.

The ceremony, hosted by Aberdeen City Council, recognised the hard work of communities the length and breadth of Scotland to clean up, green up and beautify the places that matter to them - including the efforts of six groups from .

Coupar Angus Pride of Place received a Gold Award and was named as the Large Village Category overall winner. The group also received the Discretionary Community Horticulture Award for its ongoing initiatives throughout the area, including creating attractive features at the three town entrances and roadside planting.

The other Perth and Kinross award winners were: ● Blairgowrie & Rattray in Bloom - Silver Gilt Award ● Brig in Bloom - Gold Award ● Comrie in Colour - Gold Award ● Kinnesswood in Bloom - Silver Gilt Award, Small Village Category overall winner ● in Bloom - Silver Gilt Award

Twelve category winners, with additional Discretionary Awards and the overall Rosebowl Award, were presented at the ceremony. All entries were assessed against the three core pillars of the Beautiful Scotland campaign - Horticultural Achievement; Environmental Responsibility and Community Participation.

The full list of Beautiful Scotland Award winning groups can be found here and images of the awards can be accessed here.

The event, which brought almost 300 delegates from across Scotland together in the city to receive their awards, saw George Anderson of the BBC’s Beechgrove Garden present almost 50 accolades - recognising the significant number of entrants into the gold anniversary competition.

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.”

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. The Aberdeen awards ceremony was supported by Aberdeen Inspired and sponsored by Balmoral Group Holdings Ltd and Amberol Ltd. Further information can be found at: www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/beautifulscotland

ENDS

Notes to Editors 1. Images from today’s Beautiful Scotland Awards are available here. 2. The full list of Beautiful Scotland Award winning groups and contact numbers can be found here. 3. Keep Scotland Beautiful is the charity that campaigns, acts and educates on a range of local, national and global environmental issues to change behaviour and improve the quality of people’s lives and the places they care for. We are committed to making Scotland clean, green and more sustainable. Further details at www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org 4. Beautiful Scotland is a long-established community environmental improvement campaign coordinated by KSB as part of the RHS Bloom Federation. The programme supports community groups across Scotland as they seek to improve and enhance their local environment. Further details at: www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/beautifulscotland 5. Media enquiries to Peter Duncan on 07740 469949/ [email protected] or Kirsty Leiper on 07908 781331/ [email protected]