Young gardeners win silver at RHS Tatton

Published by KBarnes for New Charter Housing Trust Group in Housing and also in Communities

Young gardeners from Tameside who volunteered more than 200 hours of their time to design and create a garden at this year’s RHS Tatton Flower Show have won a prestigious Silver Medal.

The group, aged from 8 to 16, have been working over the past six months to create the masterpiece went on show to the public during the show at Tatton Park 18 - 22 July.

Their hard work was recognised by RHS judges yesterday who awarded the children a well-deserved Silver Medal for their Show Garden titled ‘A Year in the Life of Dreamscheme’.

The young people volunteering on the garden are members of ‘DreamScheme’, a project run by Tameside’s largest provider of social housing, New Charter Homes.

The group has been entering RHS Tatton with New Charter since 2010 and this year’s Silver Medal is the best award they have won since picking up Bronze for their first Show Garden two years ago.

The garden is a circle (10m in diameter) divided into four sections depicting the different seasons; spring, summer, autumn and winter.

It features mosaic flagstones, decorative pebbles and willow weaved animals, all carefully handcrafted by the young designers. A potting shed sits in the middle of the garden as the focal point, bringing all the seasons together.

Dreamscheme was adopted by the housing association in 2005 to encourage young people to take part in safe and organised out of school activities by offering rewards in return.

Many of the children have volunteered on gardening projects on their estates to improve communities and for each project they do, they earn points which can be cashed in for days out.

The young people will be attending the RHS Flower Show to showcase their garden and answer questions from the visiting public.

Tony Powell, New Charter’s executive director of neighbourhoods said: “Our show garden has been designed entirely by young volunteers and we’re all delighted that the RHS judges have awarded them a Silver Medal.

“It’s been great to see the enthusiasm and team work the children have put into the garden and this award is a fantastic achievement that they should all be very proud of.

“We believe very much in empowering young people and that’s why we set up the DreamScheme project which we run in our key regeneration areas.

“The project is very successful and, not only does it give young people something to do when they’re not in school, it helps to improve communities and bring people of all ages together.”

More information on the garden at http://www.rhs.org.uk/Shows-Events/RHS-Show-Tatton-Park/2012/Gardens/Garden-directory/A-Year-in-the-Life-of-DreamScheme

Picture caption: (Back - front) Connor Gibbons (14), Lewis Phillips (10), Haydn Wilde (13) and Alex Wilde (7).