Best Kept Communities Competition 2022

We are so pleased to announce the return of the Best Kept Communities competition, this will be an opportunity to not only showcase your fantastic community environmental and physical attributes but also recognise the inspiring community togetherness during these difficult past few years. 

However, we are aware that as we recover from the impact of the pandemic that each community will be at various stages of their recovery and therefore, we have decided to alter the format to accommodate the variety of entries and to ensure maximum participation and community acknowledgement. 

Consequently, the awards this year will be based on levels 

Platinum – in honour of our Jubilee year and an expression of the highest standard  

Gold – excellent overall aspects of community involvement, biodiversity and environmental enhancements 

Silver – very good aspects of community involvement, biodiversity and environmental enhancements 

Bronze – good aspects of community involvement, biodiversity and environmental enhancements  

We wish to celebrate all these achievements at a Community Awards Ceremony evening in September and look forward to highlighting the wonderful people and places throughout Flintshire in this special Jubilee Year. 

Following on from previous successful Competitions, the County Council hopes to encourage as many villages/towns and Senior Citizens’ Social Housing Estates to participate this year, with an aspiration to receive at least one entry from every community.  

To combat the restrictions associated with access, entrants are asked not to include areas or features within school grounds as part of their entry this year.  There will, however, be a focus on:

1. How young people are encouraged to be involved in the up-keep of the community
2. How projects within schools contribute to the local environment and biodiversity

Building on the sustainability theme we would like the competition to continue to enhance our natural environment.  In particular we would encourage participants to support vital components of our biodiversity by, for example, planting pollinating plants, which are good for bees and other insects, and by putting up insect and bird nesting boxes.   When considering entries, judges will mark the overall appearance and will seek to establish the source of peat-free compost and plants supporting pollinating insects and other wildlife. 

The Best Kept Communities competition fosters and showcases civic pride, and highlights the positive links between community involvement and improved well-being.  This year, we want to hear more about who is involved in the creation and maintenance of our communities, what activities they’re involved in, and the amount of time they devote to the upkeep of the areas, features and buildings to be judged.    

There are Five main categories in the competition:

A.  Best Kept Village with a population of up to 1000

B.  Best Kept Village with a population over 1000

C.  Best Kept Town

D.  Best Kept Senior Citizens Social Housing Estate

E. Best Kept Community Area (e.g. park, field, allotment, wildlife area, cemetery, church yard)

The following categories are open exclusively to those competing in categories A to E: 

F.  Volunteer of the Year

Entry forms – Downloads 

A.  BKC CAT A form

B.  BKC CAT B Form

C. BKC CAT C Form

D. BKC CAT D Form

E. BKC CAT E Form

F.  BKC CAT F Form

Entry forms – Online 

A. BKC CAT A Form

B. BKC CAT B Form

C. BKC CAT C Form

D. BKC CAT D Form

E. BKC CAT E Form

F. BKC CAT F Form

Competition timetable