RHS & BBC The One Show’s Growing Together Award 2024 for Community Gardening

Community groups who have transformed a green space recognised with award in partnership with BBC’s The One Show

During spring/summer 2024, the RHS and BBC’s The One Show ran a community gardening competition to find community groups that are transforming green spaces and encouraging local people to try gardening for the first time.

We are delighted to announce the winner of the 2024 Growing Together Award is Grass Roots Oldham.

The judges were wowed by how Grass Roots Oldham transformed a derelict 166-tree orchard into a vibrant community hub for both local people and wildlife in just two years.

The group employs sustainable gardening practices and is passionate about nature conservation, learning specialist orchard-care skills to revive the site. In an urban landscape of housing, industry and roads, the community garden is a green oasis.

The group hopes that by running a variety of weekly activities, residents will be drawn in to socialise in the community hub. That’s why they set up a range of activities including petting the therapy goats, bike riding and forest school sessions, plus watersports like paddleboarding on the adjacent Rochdale Canal.

The group say, “What unites us is our shared connection to the land and growing food. We have neighbours dropping in to tell us that the garden ‘feels like home’, whether it invokes memories of harvest time in Zambia, or of visiting family in Pakistan. It’s a beautiful space where cultures and shared stories and traditions converge, from all walks of life.”

“Congratulations to all involved,” says Pak Ling Wan, RHS Community Programme Manager.

Special commendations go to this year’s runner ups: Camberwell Triangle Gardeners in London and Campy Growers in Dundee.

About the award

The award shines a light on gardening projects that involve a diverse range of people – diversity isn’t just about visual difference; it’s about celebrating individuality. We would love to hear from those who are traditionally under-represented in gardening and who have benefited from starting to garden or having a new outdoor space to use.

Entries are now closed for the RHS & BBC The One Show’s Growing Together Award 2024. The information below about how to get involved is for reference purposes only.

How can your community enter the competition?

What we are looking for?
  • We are looking for projects that clearly demonstrate the transformation that has taken place. We would love to know what the space was like before you started, what work was needed, what (if any) challenges you had to overcome, and who volunteered to help
  • We want to hear about the people who have been making use of your transformed space, and how you’ve been getting new gardeners involved. We would love to know who they are, and how they got involved, how easy it was for them to participate, what activities they have been doing, and whether they joined in one-off activities or have become regular volunteers
  • We want to understand what the newly transformed space means to your group and your local community. We would love to know what makes it special and why it is important to your group, and how it benefits the local community and the local environment
Who can enter?

Entries are now closed for the RHS & BBC The One Show’s Growing Together Award 2024.

Before your community group enters, please see the information below to learn more about what is covered and if you are eligible:

  • The lead community group applicant must be aged 18 years or older at the time of submitting your entry
  • Entrants must be a community group of three or more people that is not profit-making (e.g. their activities are not for the financial benefit of any individuals or owners)
  • Entrants must not be a school, education or childcare provider. (However, an educational space may be the transformed space, and schoolchildren or students may benefit from or participate in the community garden)
  • Community gardening groups that entered the competition in 2023 may re-enter the competition in 2024, however the transformation should relate to a different project or be in a different location.
  • The entry must be in the UK. The competition is open to all eligible community groups in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man
  • To enter the competition, the community gardening group must have created a community garden in the UK that:
    1. transformed a previously under-used space
    2. is open to the public and available for use by the local community, either all or most of the time (e.g. the space may be locked at night, but it must be generally accessible)
    3. is not used for the purpose of generating a profit (however, selling products to generate funds to reinvest in the community garden or not-for-profit is acceptable)
    4. is not used for the purpose of promoting a religion or a belief (incorporating information about a religion or belief in the community garden is acceptable, so long as the local community are able to use it freely, regardless of their religion or belief)
    5. must have secured permission from the landowner and any other relevant permissions before work started
    6. enabled people who are not a main participant or leader of another gardening group to take up community gardening for the first time
    7. followed sustainable gardening practices (examples of which can be found on the RHS website)
    8. was transformed within 36 months before the competition opening date
    9. is intended to be in existence for a minimum of 12 months after the winner is announced
If you have any questions about entering or whether your project is eligible, please send us an email [email protected]
What are the prizes?

Entries are now closed for the RHS & BBC The One Show’s Growing Together Award 2024.

  • The overall winner will receive £1000 in National Garden Gift Vouchers, a plaque and certificate
  • The most outstanding runners-up will each receive £100 in National Garden Gift Vouchers, a plaque and certificate
  • Every entry will be recognised with a certificate
  • The BBC’s The One Show will film some of the most outstanding entries
When you can enter?

Entries are now closed for the RHS & BBC The One Show’s Growing Together Award 2024.

  • The deadline to submit entries is 6pm on Sunday 9 June 2024
  • The results will be announced on the BBC’s The One Show on Friday 13 September 2024
How can you apply?

Entries are now closed for the RHS & BBC The One Show’s Growing Together Award 2024.

Community groups need to complete and submit the final version of their entry by 6pm on Sunday 9 June 2024. If you are still editing your entry after 6pm, your final version might not submit as the competition closes automatically at that time.

Entrants are asked to answer a few short questions about the project and  to submit either a few photographs or a link to a video of the space they have transformed.

Before starting an entry, entrants are required to read the terms and conditions >

Data Protection Statement: The Community Group Applicants submitting an entry to The RHS and the BBC’s The One Show Community Gardening Competition 2024 agree that the RHS and the BBC can hold name and contact details and contact them in relation to The RHS and the BBC’s The One Shows Community Gardening Competition 2024 and with regard to related press and PR opportunities. The contact details will be held by the RHS for two years. Please read the relevant section in our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy, for more information on how we process your personal data and your rights.

Get in touch

If you’d like more information about the RHS & BBC The One Show’s Growing Together Award 2024, please email [email protected].
 
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The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.