A little girl gardening. She's re-potting a flower into a larger plant pot.

SNG launches #InBloom to celebrate customer gardens

• 4 min read

This week, SNG (Sovereign Network Group) is launching SNG #InBloom — a competition for SNG customers’ gardens and green spaces around near residents’ homes. The competition is open to any SNG customer or to a group of customers.

Green spaces of all shapes, sizes and colours are a vital part of communities - and support people’s physical and mental health, as well as being positive for the wider environment.

The competition comes as part of the company’s Living Together Programme, a community investment initiative that aims to reduce minor anti-social behaviour and bring communities together through a holistic range of support, funding and resources. The Living Together Programme is made up of three different strands: #Innovate, #Befriend and the #InBloom gardening competition.

One in eight British households lack a garden altogether and this figure jumps to one in five in London. This limited access can create a barrier to enjoying and caring for gardens. Even for those with gardens, good garden maintenance of these involves time, energy and cost which can make people less motivated or incentivised to look after their gardens or to create wildlife havens.

This competition aims to foster greater community spirit and provide an extra incentive for customers to invest time and effort into their gardens and create opportunities for people to learn each other’s gardening techniques and share great ideas. 

Marta Rios, Community Investment and Partnership Manager at SNG said: “Gardens can be such a force for good, both for our communities and for us as individuals as they allow us to create beautiful places as well as bringing people together and boosting our mental wellbeing. Our #InBloom competition is a great way to connect our customers with green spaces and recognise the dedication our individual customers and communities put into their gardens so I would really encourage all our gardening enthusiasts to take part in this year’s competition. We are looking forward to receiving your entries.”

Customers can enter either an indoor or outdoor garden, green space, or community garden to win up to £200 in vouchers. Applications close on 31 July 2024 at 5pm.

If customers would like to take part in the competition but require financial or practical help upkeeping their garden, we may be able to help. Email community.development@sng.org.uk for more information.