CHEQUE IT OUT!
Blooming amazing boost for Linwood High School’s garden
A school garden is really growing places after winning a national competition.
The Craig Hepburn Memorial Garden at Linwood High School scooped the top prize in the Cultivation Street competition.
It came second last year so art and horticulture teacher Lesley Hinde said they were delighted to win the overall competition and bag themselves a cheque for £1,000 and a Miracle Gro Hamper.
She said: “We submitted our application with lots of photos of the pupils enjoying the garden. We had a fantastic harvest last year, one of our best, so we had lots of photos of that.
“We’ve been rebuilding the garden and replacing the raised beds. We’ve got nearly 100 and they’ve done seven years so that’s not bad.
“We’re planning to use the money to get started on our outdoor kitchen and pizza oven.”
She added: “I am very rarely short of words, but this was a fabulous exception.
“The saying, ‘If you want to show a child a miracle, plant a garden’ is so very true. It is genuinely the most positive thing you can do for a school, to build wonder and excitement into their daily lives.”
The Craig Hepburn Memorial Garden is named after the school’s 19-year-old former pupil – affectionately known as Heppy – who was stabbed to death in England in 2012.
The garden was created at the school in 2014 with the input and blessing of his parents, Alex and Carol, and is now a fantastic green space that features more than 40 fruit trees, flowers and vegetables.
Cultivation Street is a campaign founded by chartered horticulturist and broadcaster David Domoney, who presents ITV’s Love Your Garden with Alan Titchmarsh, to help people grow and garden together.
It’s been going for seven years, supporting thousands of adults with community gardening and children’s school gardens.
The Cultivation Street judges’ said: “The story behind the garden is just inspiring. We also loved that it was a secondary school showing such enthusiasm.
“It’s sometimes hard to keep children engaged as they grow older.”
We’re planning to use the money to get started on our outdoor kitchen and pizza oven