BEST COMMUNITY GARDEN
THIS award is aimed at incredible community gardening projects making their local area a greener and better place to live for everyone.
TAKING home the £1,000 first prize, our 2022 winner is The Wash House Community Garden in Glasgow. It is based within a secluded area behind the old Parkhead Wash House – once a focal point for locals providing hot and cold water and laundry facilities.
The coming of the garden has re-established the Wash House as a community asset, harnessing the power of home-grown food to connect local people with the natural world – and one another.
Volunteers and staff help grow fruit and veg for some 35 households and businesses each week, from spring all the way up to autumn.
By running workshops on growing and cooking, wreathmaking and basketry, they are teaching different skills and showing that gardening is a diverse hobby, and one that is incredibly important and accessible.
Volunteer Kim Moore says: “The garden brings the community together, embracing us in its tender green tendrils and teaches us calmness, kindness and compassion. People feel less isolated and more connected, their fitness and co-ordination improve, they learn new skills and discover passions.
“We may be growing a garden, but the garden allows us to grow, too, as individuals and as a community.”
●●Second place goes to Betty’s Hut & Garden in Newcastle-upon Tyne which wins £500. In third place is Martineau Gardens, Birmingham, which receives £250 Two highly-commended community gardens, Dwygyfylchi Community Allotment in Conwy and Skool Beanz in Yeovil, Somerset, each receive a Miracle-Gro® hamper.