Community Garden Competition
Blue Diamond Garden Centres offered a total of £10,000 worth of plants and garden care products to be split equally across the five community garden projects chosen from all the competition entrants, along with six hours of expert help and advice.
The Winners!
We were inundated with entrants and each one of those entrants deserves to be supported, but there can only be 5 winners and we are delighted to announce that the winners are……
Newton Abbot Centre Association
Newton Abbot Centre Association is a Registered Charity which exists to run the Courtenay Centre. The Courtenay Centre is a popular local community centre serving the town of Newton Abbot in Devon. It is located in the heart of the town centre, less than 4 miles from our local Blue Diamond Garden Centre (Fermoys). The community centre provides a home to lots of local groups and activities, as well as offering a cafe serving affordable food, a community fridge offering free surplus food to local people and running a range of support groups and activities for local people.
Step Together Volunteering - Get Growing Project
Our “Get Growing” project is based at an allotment in South Bristol. Established in 2021 in response to the pandemic, when we needed a safe space to meet with young people, it is now an integral part of our service offer for young people facing multiple disadvantages in Bristol. We run sessions for young people twice a week where they can come together in small groups and develop:
- Confidence, self-esteem, motivation and aspirations.
- Work-related skills such as communication, reliability, team working.
- Knowledge about growing produce, cooking, healthy lifestyles, project planning etc.The space supports 16-25 year olds and serves as a “safe” place where they feel connected to their local community, explore their interests and learn about the land and environment around them.
Kingshurst Community Garden
The purpose of our community group is to foster a supportive and inclusive environment that promotes local engagement. We aim to enhance the well-being of our community through various initiatives, including educational programs, social events, and volunteer opportunities. By encouraging active participation and open days, we strive to address local issues, support sustainable development, and strengthen community bonds. Our group serves as a hub for residents to connect, share resources, and work together towards common goals, ultimately contributing to a vibrant, resilient, and thriving community Garden.
Friends of Holbrook Charity
The objectives of the Friends of Holbrook are to encourage the development of the community of the school, and the school within the wider community; to engage in activities which will benefit the school and all its members; to purchase equipment and books to benefit pupils’ education.
Transition Town Wellington
Our aim is to help our town become more self-sufficient as a reaction to the climate and ecological crises. Part of our work is to create community gardens in public spaces in the town with food for residents to pick for free, including fruit, nuts, vegetables and herbs. These spaces are managed to increase biodiversity and soil health to benefit nature as well as people. We welcome people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities to join our group in the “transition” to a low carbon society.
Blue Diamond will follow the progress of these 5 community gardens over the next year, and it is hoped that these gardens will increase the biodiversity in its respective neighbourhood, improve resident well-being, and provide an immersive space where people from the local community can reconnect with nature.
Blue Diamond Garden Centres would like to thank everyone who entered this competition and hope that the community garden projects continue to thrive.
Why community gardens are important to us...
We want to help bring the great outdoors to the heart of communities across the UK by offering funding to support local groups to create new community gardens or give a makeover to existing community gardens that perhaps have seen better days.
We share the same beliefs as Octavia Hill, the inspiration behind our 2024 Silver-Gilt medal & Children's choice award winning Chelsea Garden exhibit that ‘the healthy gift of air and the joy of plants and flowers’ are vital in everyone’s life. With this in mind, we aim to inspire others to create biodiverse, outdoor spaces that enables nature and wildlife to thrive, and which provides a place for people to connect with the beauty of our natural world.
Around 1 in 3 people in the UK today do not have access to nature-rich outdoor spaces near their homes, and in some deprived areas, there is no access to green spaces at all.
By supporting five community gardens through our competition, our aim is that these gardens will help to give the ‘healthy gift of air and the joy of plants and flowers’ to the communities surrounding them.
"Britain is losing its biodiversity at an alarming rate and we can all do our bit to help change this. We can increase plant diversity in even the smallest or most unusual of spaces, including those in urban areas. This competition, I hope will encourage communities to come together and to look at how they can improve their local areas and in turn, increase biodiversity there".
Alan Roper, Managing Director of Blue Diamond
To read about the many ways in which the Blue Diamond Garden Centre Group has contributed to community gardens, click here.
Terms and conditions
1. Entrants must complete the online application form by midnight on the 31st March 2024. The online application form can be found here add link here
2. Winners will be chosen based on merit and at Blue Diamond’s discretion but must satisfy the following criteria namely that; - the community garden project must demonstrate that it will increase the biodiversity in its respective neighbourhood, that it will improve resident well-being, and provide an immersive space where people from the local community can reconnect with nature.
3. 5 winning community garden projects were chosen by a nominated representative of Blue Diamond on 12th July 2024.
4. A nominated representative from each of the 5 winning gardens, as identified on the application form, will be notified by email sent from a representative of Blue Diamond and/or by telephone call.
5. Thereafter, a credit account to the value of £2000 will then be set up at the Blue Diamond Garden Centre nearest to each of the 5 winners of the community garden competition.
6. A nominated and authorised person(s) from each of the respective community gardens is to be appointed and can have access to this credit account.
7. This credit account will remain valid for 12 months from the date it is set up or until such time that the credit has been depleted.
8. Each of the winning community gardens will be offered 6 x 1hr slots with an appropriate member of Blue Diamond staff who can offer advice on plants, planting and plant care products. These appointments are to be set up at mutually convenient times.
9. Each of the winners of the community garden projects are to agree to Blue Diamond following the progress of the community garden project from the date the winners are announced on the 12th July 2024 and thereafter until the 12th July 2025 inclusive, and to Blue Diamond publishing the progress of the community garden projects on Blue Diamond’s website and across all their social media platforms.