Aspire Wins for the 3rd Year in a Row!!!

Our Aspire Wild Gardening women were entered into the Northumbria In Bloom competition for the third year in a row, and we won again!!!

We were entered into the Royal Horticultural Society’s It’s Your Neighbourhood category and we achieved the highest Level 5 Outstanding, scoring an impressive 86 points! We were really pleased with the feedback we received and the judge’s comments really captured what our Wild Gardening group is all about and the positive impact it has to both our Aspire women and our wider community.

Assessor Sophie Simpson commented, ‘The Aspire Wild Gardening Women have created a beautiful and peaceful container garden outside their premises. It is clear that this garden has provided an extra level of healing for so many of the women who make use of Aspire for learning every day skills and receiving support over the course of a year. All plants and containers have been donated or made by the volunteers. One of the volunteers is a very keen gardener and has helped teach both the members and the women who use the service more relevant skills. There is a mixture of fruit, vegetables, herbs and ornamentals grown in a tiny space. A memorial bench and two holly trees have been given in memory of lost friends. Gardening is such a valuable therapy and this little area is adding enormously to the wellbeing of the women who both use and provide services at the centre. Amazingly, even though there are local youths who damage some of the surrounding area, they have never touched the garden and perhaps they also view it as a special place.’

We are so grateful for all of the time and effort our wonderful Gardening group give to Aspire to make our little yarden such a welcoming and safe space for our women!

With a few areas for improvement we are already working hard, and thinking about how we can make our yarden even more amazing for next year’s competition!