A PIECE of abandoned Droitwich wasteland which was transformed into a community garden has been given a prestigious national award by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS).
More than £10,000 of Big Lottery Funding and hundreds of hours have been spent by pupils from St Peter’s CEVA First School, the third Droitwich scouts, residents and youngsters from a children’s garden club on creating the spectacular area.
The plot, on Charles Henry Road, has been awarded level three by the RHS in the Britain in Bloom Neighbourhood Awards.
The area, owned by Fortis Living, has given residents, especially children and their families, the opportunity and chance to enjoy the outdoors and learn how to grow their own vegetables, fruit and flowers.
A lot of the vegetables grown in the garden have been donated to residents staying with The Herriotts, Fortis Living and at the Clarence Park Village, in Malvern.
Paul Edwards, Fortis Living’s community officer for Droitwich, who has overseen the project from the beginning, said everything had come together very nicely.
He added how they started planning everything around 12-months ago but did not start planting until March and April.
Paul said they had also done what they could to attract wildlife into the garden and had been helped by the scouts to build bug and bird boxes as well as to grow sunflowers to lure bugs in.
“We can not produce enough for them they love it.
“We have one child who comes up, we give him a load of tomatoes to take home but they never make it back, he eats them all on the way.
“It certainly is the project everyone is talking about at the moment.
“Everyone keeps stopping us to congratulate us on turning it from a jungle to a beautiful garden.”
He added, although it had involved a lot of hard work, it had been really enjoyable and what had been grown had made it all worthwhile.
“Twelve months ago the garden was a piece of wasteland but it has now bloomed into a focal point for the whole community.
“It’s been an amazing transformation and we are really pleased to receive this recognition from the RHS.”
Catherine Boldwin, a teacher at St Peter’s CEVA First School responsible for Eco, said: “The children were thrilled with how their flowerbed turned out.
“It was so lovely to have the opportunity to walk out of the school and be actively involved in a community scheme.”
She added she hoped the plants which had been put in during the summer would also turn into beautiful blooms and get the green-fingered thumbs up.
Anyone wanting to get involved can call Paul on 01905 823148 for more.
Fortis Living’s community officer Paul Edwards, Les Goodman – president of the Heart of England in Bloom and two Fortis Living residents Liz Pettican and Nigel Collins.
