RHS and BBC The One Show Growing Together Award 2025 terms and conditions

Entries are now closed for the RHS and BBC The One Show Growing Together Award 2025. The information below about how to get involved is for reference purposes only.

  1. THE COMPETITION
    1. The RHS and BBC The One Show’s Growing Together Award 2025 for Community Gardening recognises community groups across the UK that have transformed a previously unused space into a community garden and enabled new people to try gardening for the first time (the Competition).
    2. The Royal Horticultural Society with registered charity number 222879/SC038262 of 80 Vincent Square, London, SW1P 2PE (the RHS) is the promoter of the Competition.
    3. By entering the Competition, the lead community group applicant agrees to these terms and conditions on behalf of their community garden group. 
  2. HOW TO ENTER
    1. The Competition runs from 07.00 on 19 May 2025 (the Opening Date) to 18:00 on 13 June 2025 (the Closing Date).
    2. To enter the Competition, the lead community group applicant must complete the Competition entry form online and submit it, together with any photos or videos in support of their entry, by the Closing Date. Competition entries received after the Closing Date will be disqualified.
    3. No purchase is necessary and there is no charge to register for use of the RHS website or the Survey Monkey website.
    4. The RHS is not responsible for any technical failure, loss of data via use of a third-party email platform or malfunction or any other problem which may result in any entry not being properly submitted for any reason.
    5. For help with entries, you may contact [email protected].
  3. ELIGIBILITY  
    1. To enter the Competition the lead community group applicant must be aged 18 years or over.
    2. To enter the Competition, the community garden group:
      1. must be made up of three or more people;
      2. must be a group or organisation that is not-for-profit (i.e. their activities are not for the financial benefit of any individuals or owners);
      3. must not be a school, education or childcare provider. (However, an educational space may be the transformed space, and school children or students may benefit from or participate in the community garden); and
      4. must be based in the UK (including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man).
    3. To enter the Competition, the community garden group must have created a community garden in the UK that:
      1. transformed a previously under-used space;
      2. is open to the public and available for use by the local community, either all or most of the time, (e.g. the space may be locked at night, but it must be generally accessible);
      3. is not used for the purpose of generating a profit (however, selling products to generate funds to reinvest in the community garden or not-for-profit is acceptable);
      4. is not used for the purpose of promoting a religion or a belief (incorporating information about a religion or belief in the community garden is acceptable, so long as the local community are able to use it freely, regardless of their religion or belief);
      5. must have secured permission from the landowner and any other relevant permissions before work started;
      6. enabled people who are not a main participant or leader of another gardening group to take up community gardening for the first time;
      7. followed sustainable gardening practices (examples of which can be found on the RHS website); and
      8. was transformed within 36 months before the Opening Date; and
      9. is intended to be in existence for a minimum of 12 months after the winner is announced.
    4. You may not enter the Competition if anyone participating in the community garden group is:
      1. an employee of the RHS or the BBC or their group companies;
      2. an employee of the RHS’ or the BBC’s agents or suppliers or their group companies, who are professionally connected with the Competition or its administration; or
      3. a member of the immediate families or households of (3.4.1) or (3.4.2) above.
    5. By entering the Competition, the lead community group applicant confirms on behalf of the community garden group that they are eligible to enter the Competition and to claim any prize awarded. You may be required to provide the RHS and the BBC with proof that you are eligible to enter the competition.
    6. The RHS will not accept Competition entries that are: automatically generated by computer; completed by third parties or in bulk; illegible; have been altered, reconstructed, forged or tampered with; or incomplete.
    7. There is a limit of one entry per community garden group. Joint submissions for more than one community garden group, or for more than one community garden, are not allowed.
    8. Community garden groups that entered the Competition in 2024 may re-enter the Competition in 2025, however the transformation should relate to a different project or be in a different location.
    9. The winner of the 2024 Competition is not eligible to apply/reapply.
    10. The RHS may refuse entry, or refuse to award a prize or certificate, to anyone who is:
      1. in breach of these terms and conditions; or
      2. acting in any way that goes against the spirit or intention of the competition.
  4. JUDGING AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
    1. Competition entries will be judged by a panel of judges, made up of two judges nominated by the RHS, and two judges nominated by the BBC. The panel will assess the submission entries based on:
      1. the creativity and design of the transformed space; and
      2. the impact on the local community and community garden group that have been making use of the space.
    2. The decision of the judges (acting reasonably) is final, and no correspondence or discussion will be entered into.
    3. The RHS and the BBC intend to announce the overall Competition winner and the winners of the outstanding awards on or after the 1 September 2025 (the Announcement Date) on The One Show. The RHS and the BBC may change the Announcement Date or the way in which they announce the winners at their discretion.
    4. The RHS will send the full names of the judges to anyone who writes within one month after the Announcement Date requesting details of the judges. 
  5. THE PRIZES
    1. The prizes are:
      1. Overall winner: £1,000 in National Garden Gift Vouchers and a winner plaque and certificate;
      2. Up to 10 outstanding awards to the runners up: £100 National Garden Gift Voucher and an outstanding award plaque and certificate; and
      3. For every entrant: an achievement award certificate.
    2. The prizes are subject to availability. The RHS may substitute the prizes with prizes of equal or greater value. The prizes are not negotiable or transferable and there is no cash alternative.
  6. CLAIMING THE PRIZE
    1. The RHS will notify the overall winner and winners of the outstanding awards by email using the details provided at entry.
    2. The RHS will make all reasonable efforts to contact the overall winner and winners of the outstanding awards. If a winner does not respond to the RHS within two working days of being notified by the RHS, then the winner's prize will be forfeited. The RHS may then select another winner in accordance with the process described above. 
    3. The RHS will send achievement award certificates by post to the UK address submitted with the entry.
    4. Please allow 28 days after the Announcement Date for delivery of prizes and certificates. If you do not notify us of non-delivery within 50 days after the Announcement Date, your claim to the prize will become invalid. A third party who is not part of the community group garden may not claim a prize on your behalf. 
    5. The RHS does not accept any responsibility if you are not able to use a prize.
    6. The RHS must either publish or make available information that indicates that a valid award took place. To meet this requirement, the RHS will announce the name of the community gardens that are the overall winner and outstanding award winners, and, if applicable, details of their winning entries on The One Show on the Announcement Date, and after that date, publish those details on the RHS website. On request from the Advertising Standards Authority, the RHS will also provide the name of the lead community group applicant to the ASA 
  7. RIGHTS TO USE THE COMPETITION ENTRY SUBMISSIONS AND TO PHOTOGRAPH AND FILM WINNING ENTRIES
    1. Each of the RHS and the BBC may, but is not required to, make any part of your Competition entry submission available on the RHS and the BBC websites, and on the BBC, iPlayer and any other media, in connection with any publicity relating to the Competition. The lead community group applicant, on behalf of their community garden group, grants each of the RHS and the BBC a non-exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable licence to use, display, publish, transmit, copy, edit, alter, store, re-format and sub-licence any part of their Competition entry submission for such purpose.
    2. The lead community group applicant confirms on behalf of the community garden group that they have all relevant written consents from individuals featured in the photographs, footage or content submitted as part of their Competition entry, including consents from parents/guardians of any children aged 16 and under, to share their photographs, footage or content with the RHS and the BBC for the purpose of the Competition.
    3. The lead community group applicant confirms, on behalf of the community garden group, that if they are the overall winner or recipient of an outstanding award, the BBC and the RHS may (subject to the RHS and BBC obtaining any necessary individual consents):
      1. film their community garden, which may be broadcast on the BBC and iPlayer;
      2. take photographs of their community garden for publication; and
      3. publish the name and location of their community garden on the BBC and the RHS websites and associated social media channels. 
    4. The lead community group applicant confirms that where the applicant is not the landowner, they have obtained written consent from the landowner for the BBC to film and photograph the land and community garden as outlined in clause 7.3 above.
  8. RHS AND BBC THE ONE SHOW GROWING TOGETHER AWARD 2025 COMPETITION PRIVACY NOTICE

The Royal Horticultural Society with registered charity number 222879/SC038262 of 80 Vincent Square, London, SW1P 2PE (the RHS) is the promoter of the competition.  This competition is being run by the RHS in conjunction with The One Show. The One Show is produced by BBC Studios for broadcast, use and exploitation by the BBC. The RHS and BBC Studios are responsible for handling the personal information you provide, in accordance with data protection law.

The personal data you supply as part of your competition entry submission will be used by the RHS and BBC Studios for the purpose of running the competition and featuring it on The One Show. This includes:

  • contacting you if your Entry is selected as a finalist, to arrange a broadcast interview(s) and/or to film them for BBC social media videos;
  • filming and taking photographs of the finalists and their community garden, and announcing the finalists, the winning entry, the runners up and their lead community group applicant’s name, which will be broadcast on the BBC The One Show, iPlayer, BBC and RHS social media and any other media, in connection with any publicity relating to the Competition as set out in the competition terms and conditions; and
  • publishing the finalist’s and the lead community applicant’s name and images of their community garden on the BBC and RHS websites and associated social media channels.

The lead community group applicant confirms on behalf of the community garden group that they have all relevant written consents from individuals featured in the photographs, film or content submitted as part of their competition entry, including consents from parents/guardians of any children aged 16 and under, to share their photographs, footage or content with the RHS and BBC Studios for the purpose of the competition.

If we decide to shortlist your entry or feature it on The One Show, BBC Studios may carry out limited background research about you. This may include searches of publicly available records such as: participation in previous television productions; information from social media profiles, including Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn. The information obtained will be used to assess your suitability to be part of the programme and to inform the measures we put in place as part of our duty of care to ensure contributors involved in our productions are safe and free from harassment or discrimination and to ensure that nothing in our programmes damages the reputation of BBC Studios, the BBC or the RHS. BBC Studios may share this information with the BBC and/or RHS where necessary for purposes of selecting the finalists. The lawful basis for this processing of your personal data is our legitimate interest in determining your suitability to take part in the programme, protecting our reputation and fulfilling our obligations to the BBC and our duty of care to our contributors. To the extent we may process special category, relating to you as described, our lawful basis is your explicit consent. Where relevant, we will contact you to obtain your consent before we carry out these checks. If you do not consent to us carrying out background checks or withdraw your consent before we have carried out the searches, you will not be able to take part in the programme.

If you are providing personal data about other people in your community group, as the lead community group applicant you must ensure you have the consent from those people before submitting your entry. The RHS will share entry details with The One Show production team for the purposes outlined above, as far as possible identifiable information will be removed before doing so.

The RHS, BBC and BBC Studios will keep the winning entry and the runners up lead community group applicant’s details for up to 2 years for audit and regulatory purposes. The RHS and BBC Studios will delete all completed and incomplete entries of all unsuccessful entries within 60 days following the announcement of the winning entry and the runners up.

Where you have consented, the RHS would like to contact you about its work in Communities via its regular newsletter.

Please read the full RHS Privacy Policy  to find out more about how the RHS uses your personal data and how to exercise your rights under applicable data protection laws.

For more information about how BBC Studios will use your personal information please see The One Show Privacy Notice and BBC Studios’ Privacy Policy for Contributors.

  1. LIABILITY
    1. To the extent permitted by law, the RHS and the BBC, and their agents or distributors, will not be responsible or liable to compensate the entrants or winners or accept any liability for any loss, damage, personal injury or death occurring as a result of either entering the Competition or taking up a prize, except where it is caused by the negligence of the RHS or the BBC, as applicable, or that of their agents,  distributors or employees. Your statutory rights are not affected.
  2. GENERAL
    1. The RHS may void, suspend, cancel, or amend the Competition where it becomes necessary to do so.
    2. These terms and conditions are governed by the laws of England and Wales, and the parties submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

Read more about the RHS and BBC The One Show Growing Together Award 2025 for Community Gardening

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The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.