Three Wyevale Garden Centres have announced the winners of their inaugural Garden Centre Makeover competitions, as voted for by thousands of members from local communities.
The winner of Pennine Wyevale Garden Centre’s competition was Kirkwood Hospice, a hospice providing palliative care to the terminally ill, while Birchencliffe Wyevale Garden Centre’s top prize went to Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice, a charity that supports children with life shortening conditions and their families in West Yorkshire. Raglan Wyevale Garden Centre’s competition was won by Raglan Primary School, a local school in the centre of Bromley that has been operating for more than 120 years.
All three competitions were launched in October 2015 with a view to giving something back to the community through transforming garden spaces that mean something to locals. The competitions ran until mid-December 2015, with visitors to each garden centre casting votes for their favourite group to win.
The winning community groups will each receive a beautiful new garden just in time for summer. A team of volunteers from each Wyevale Garden Centre will work respectively with a local landscape designer to transform the winners’ green spaces into beautiful outdoor havens – to be enjoyed by residents, students and visitors alike.
Raglan Garden Centre manager Lorraine Walters commented: “It’s great to be doing a project that gives something back to the community – on behalf of the community. We look forward to using our expertise to transform Ragland VC Primary School’s garden space into an area that the kids and teachers can feel comfortable in and be proud of.”
Raglan VC Primary School head teacher Jeremy Piper added: “We, along with the children, are extremely excited to see what the landscape designer envisions for our garden space and can’t wait to see the plans come to life in time for summer. We’re grateful to the local community for their votes and look forward to making the most of the space once the makeover is complete.”
Pennine Garden Centre manager Andrew Harper said: “We are delighted to announce Kirkwood Hospice as the winner of our Garden Makeover Competition. We are very excited to work with the hospice and local landscape gardener to create an outdoor green space where residents can relax and enjoy their time at Kirkwood.”
Jim Coward, Kirkwood Hospice media and marketing manager, commented: “We were delighted to find out that the local community had nominated in the Garden Makeover Competition and were thrilled to hear the news that we had won. We are constantly humbled by the support which we receive from the general public. We can’t wait to get started on plans and look forward to working alongside Pennine Wyevale Garden Centre to create a beautiful new space at the Hospice.”
Sharon Burton, Director of Care at Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice said: “We are extremely excited to work with the landscape designer to develop some of our garden space. I’m really looking forward to seeing the plans come to life so our families and children can benefit from it in time for summer. A huge thanks to the local community for their votes in making this happen; I’m absolutely blown away by their response to this competition held at Birchencliffe.”
Each Wyevale Garden Centre will announce plans for the design of the garden makeovers in the coming month.
