GARDENS FOR BETTER HEALTH
THE Gardens for Better Health award goes to the area that is having the most positive impact on the mental or physical health of the local community.
TAKING the top spot in this category, and winning £1,000, is Lost The Plot, in Deal, Kent.
Formed as a mental health support hub in the community, it’s now an outdoor well-being centre, used to run daily sessions to help people in the community. Once a bare piece of land, it is now a flourishing allotment, providing exercise and food for the community.
It also provides a space for a good oldfashioned “sit down and a cup of tea and a chat” for those who need it.
The garden is split into different sections, with space to relax and meditate, and includes a sensory area full of beautiful, fragrant, and textured plants. There is also a wildlife pond, insect house, and hedgehog home.
The children of volunteers love to explore and see what creatures they can find, and they also have their own growing area. Within the garden, they cultivate plenty of vegetables, including potatoes, courgettes, cauliflower and onions – using crop rotation practices to ensure all produce is grown to its maximum quality.
During the pandemic, Lost The Plot hosted virtual daily groups and diversified into shopping and delivering more than 800 food parcels to neighbours with disabilities and struggling families.
This continues and they now use their own Lost The Plot produce to top up the bundles with fruit and vegetables.
●●Second place, winning £500, is Windmill Community Garden in Nottingham. Third place goes to Oasis Community Garden in Worksop which wins £250.The judges were so blown away by the entries, they awarded three highly commended prizes of a Miracle-Gro® hamper to Plant Pots and Wellies in Harlow, Essex; Parkinson Self Help Group Community Garden, Airdrie, Scotland; and Saffron Acres, Leicester.