Behind the Sunday Mirror – Growing Closer Together
Having given away more than £120,000 in prizes over the past eight years, Cultivation Street is the largest community gardening campaign in the country. Year on year, the stories behind the community efforts never fail to inspire. Supported by the Sunday Mirror and Miracle Gro ®, it’s a way to show the tremendous efforts communities and school go to in ensuring their surrounding look bright and cheerful. Our schools’ category has seen some incredible entries over the years. We are always in awe of what little hands can create. So to help inspire even greater efforts as schools welcome back the first pupils after lock down, I’, looking back at some of the top plots that have helped enhance lives all over the country.
2015 Winner – Ballycraigy School
In 2015, Jocelyn Brown the Eco Teacher at Ballycraigy Primary School wanted to share their 10-year journey with us. The school successfully transformed a tarmac and grass covered area into a thriving eco-garden, kitted out with an outdoor gym, raised beds and a polytunnel, amongst many other features. The eco-garden is still going strong 15 years later, filled with raised beds, fruit and furniture built from recycled pallets.
Not only has the garden had a positive impact on the school but it also encompasses the surrounding council estate community too, bringing joy to the whole neighbourhood, with Jocelyn adding that it ‘influences the children as they leave to embark on high school and then into their careers’.
2018 Winner – Hammersmith Academy
Back in 2018, Hammersmith Academy took home the win. The Academy is based in West London, meaning many of the pupils didn’t have access to their own gardens or outdoor space, and the school itself only had a greenhouse and a handful of raised beds.
When they first decided to start work, there was approximately 30 pupils who were keen to get involved, but fast forward to 2018 and there were a staggering 500 pupils now eager to help out in the garden.
After winning Cultivation Street, the prize money was used to kit out their third-floor balcony with flowers and extend their chicken coop. Since 2018, they have extended their garden even further, turning the reception area into ‘the hanging garden of Babylon’ and are even keeping bees! Patrick Kirwin, Horticulture and Community outreach coordinator at Hammersmith Academy said ‘Winning Cultivation Street was amazing. It gave us some recognition for the work we are doing and helped us to throw a spotlight on it. We want to roll out our nature curriculum to other schools and this helps us on our journey to fulfilling our ambition.’
2014 Runner Up – Skipton Parish School
There was a Cultivation Street first in 2014 for Skipton Parish School in Yorkshire because the judges were so impressed by their entry, that they created the runner up prize for the school, awarding them £500 of National Garden Gift Vouchers.
In 2011, Kath Pickard, Teaching Assistant, and a school dinner lady noticed the derelict area behind the school and decided there was something that needed to be done about it. The pair convinced other teachers and parents to get stuck in, and after hours of hard work the derelict tip was transformed into a thriving garden, where the pupils could grow vegetables, setting the children growing challenges to help improve the plot.
When speaking to Kath about their Cultivation Street entry she said: ‘The Children are all excited, it is so nice to see them becoming involved and interested in the outdoors and what can be achieved through gardening.’
2019 Winners - Redwood Park Academy
Our most recent winner, Redwood Park Academy in Portsmouth, won the judges over with the garden they had been developing for the last 3 years. The school is for pupils aged 11-16 with complex learning difficulties. As they have developed the garden, adaptations have been made to improve access and make it convenient for all that use the space. The garden has raised beds at a variety of heights, with the aim that they are workable for pupils in wheelchairs as well as standers. The school’s horticulture teacher, Ed Bond, told us that they have used their £2000 winnings to extend the garden even further by adding more raised beds to the front of the school. What’s more is they have even got a new flock of rescue hens who provide endless pleasure and joy to the kids as well as eggs. Ed continued to tell us that ‘winning the award last year meant so much to everyone connected with Redwood Park. The recognition of the hard work of our students and everyone involved was amazing. Especially during these difficult times, having the garden, and working it, is an act of hope and promise of better times ahead.’
Enter Cultivation Street today with a chance of winning your share of £13,000 worth of prizes
