RHS It's Your Neighbourhood

RHS – IT'S YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD RHS It's Your Neighbourhood (IYN) is a scheme for volunteer-led community gardening groups which are focused on cleaning up and greening up their local area. It provides groups with the chance to get involved in the wider RHS Britain in Bloom initiative. There is no charge to participate. Contact CRiB if you are interested.

How Does It Work
The wonderful thing about It's Your Neighbourhood is that no two projects are the same – each group chooses its activity based on the needs of the local community. Participants are asked to carry out their projects with a focus on the three core IYN pillars:
-Community Participation
- Environmental Responsibility
- Gardening Achievement
Those taking part get free horticultural advice from the RHS as well as an annual visit from an It's Your Neighbourhood assessor. The visit gives useful feedback, helping groups to develop their activities year on year.

What Do Groups Do?
This entirely depends on the group's needs, the local situation and what will benefit the environment and the community. A few examples of the kind of things RHS It's Your Neighbourhood groups have done in the past are:
-Restoring a churchyard
- Converting a derelict area into useable green space
- Improving and maintenaning the green spaces on a residential estate
- Transforming a residential back alley into a community garden (often reducing incidents of anti-social behaviour in the process)
- Adopting a square, roundabout or an unloved patch of land and renovating it
- Encouraging residents to spruce up their front gardens, running window tub or hanging basket workshops or providing free plants to get people started
- Forming a friends group to fundraise and care for a local park or garden
- Uniting local retailers to transform a high street or shopping area
- Supporting a school garden or engaging pupils in planting projects in the wider community