We've Won some Horticulture Awards!
We are very pleased to announce that in 2024, Roots and Shoots won 3 awards for our horticultural efforts. The first is the Royal Horticultural Society's 2024 Its Your Neighbourhood Award, where we achieved a Level 5 Outstanding for our work engaging our students, vulnerable people and the wider local community on horticulture, environmental education and creative projects, creating a sustainable sanctuary in the heart of London.
"When first established in 1982 Roots and Shoots was a pioneer, the vision of Linda Phillips was ahead of its time, giving young people and others needing some form of help and direction drawn from the local community in an environmentally friendly and safe setting...
The previously contaminated rubble has been transformed into a glorious garden, Roots and Shoots is an excellent example of how much can be achieved in a limited space. Over the years it must have touched and influenced many peoples lives."
A quote from the Judge's Results
Two more awards were won by our brilliant Study Programme Horticulture students and their teachers for their work in the Bubble Gate Garden, a public open space next to our site which is managed and cultivated by our students as part of their studies. The garden is sustainably managed and features a horticultural training area, which students use to practise gardening skills including sowing seeds, planting, making compost, weeding and using tools and machinery correctly. A large flower border has been divided into sections to provide the students ownership of an area, where they chose the planting scheme themselves. The London Gardens Society awarded us second place for Community Gardening, and showing pride in London by the cultivation of flowers and shrubs.
London in Bloom then awarded us a Silver Gilt Gardening with Young People award, highlighting the important work we do educating and inspiring our students to garden both at our site and across London. When they begin at Roots and Shoots, many of our students often don’t have much interest in gardening or the outdoors, with most never having the opportunity to garden or experience enriched green space before. Under the tutelage of our experienced and creative teaching staff, they soon come to truly enjoy and value horticulture, with some going on to further training and even employment in green industries.
“I can’t tell my own future, but I didn’t realise I’d be somewhere so nice like this. Doing gardening put me off, I didn’t realise I would like it so much. It’s nice to see something you planted and think, ‘I grew that’.”
Shabaz, a Roots and Shoots graduate
As part of their training students learn about the environment, climate change and gardening for wildlife. In 2023, in response to the 2022 heat wave, the students built a “Mediterranean” area to grow drought-resistant plants. Our students are passionate about fostering biodiversity, and so the garden is filled with pollinating plants, bug hotels made from recycled materials (green waste, rubble and found objects) and hugel mounds. As a result of this work, the Bubble Gate Garden has been designated by the London Wildlife Trust as a Borough SINC.
All are welcome to visit and enjoy the Bubble Gate Garden, it is always open to the public - though we recommend a visit in May, where it looks particularly spectacular!
