Sal Chebbah – Environment

Living in the vicinity of the Grenfell Tower, Sal Chebbah saw a community shattered by the tragedy. Now she’s helping residents heal through a nature project that’s inspired people across the Lancaster West Estate in West London.

As project manager of Growing with North Kensington, Sal helped install a mushroom garden in the grounds of the estate and also supports the community with regular gardening workshops, which help bring people together. The project – supported financially by the Centre for Innovation in Voluntary Action, with National Lottery funding – supplies residents with grow kits. It’s inspiring them to create one of the greenest estates in London. “There are so many therapeutic benefits to urban gardening,” Sal explains. “It connects people. And when an area becomes more attractive, we all want to take better care of it.”

Sal, 45, also teaches people about the eco and health benefits of mushrooms via her company Elysian Roots, showing how easy and cheap they are to grow – even in an urban tower block.

Now affectionately known by locals as The Mushroom Queen, Sal is delighted to have won the Environment category in this year’s National Lottery Awards.

“There are a lot of issues to be resolved in the community,” says Sal. “But the people at the project are resilient – and they tell me it’s changed the way they shop and how they think about food.”