The votes are in. Find out your winner of our community garden competition
Thank you to everyone who voted for our community garden project. We had such a fabulous response from you all as you voted for one of five projects across the UK that you wanted to see transformed by Prima and The Wildlife Trusts charity.
And with more than 1,800 votes cast, we're delighted to say that the winning plot of land is Stafford in the West Midlands.
We asked you to choose between five plots of land that the conservation charity, The Wildlife Trusts, wanted to rejuvenate as part of their Nextdoor Nature programme. The plots of land stretched across the country from Kirkcaldy, east Scotland, to Bristol in the south west. Each community gave particular reasons why they felt they deserved part of the £5m funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for a scrap of land that had been left forgotten, to be transformed into a place of beauty for the community to enjoy. All the areas were very worthy but it was this small, neglected plot of land at a busy five-road junction in Stafford, West Midlands that won your heart.
Sue Neill-Boxley, who’s looking after the project at Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, says everyone involved is thrilled that Prima readers have chosen their project to support.
‘I really wasn’t expecting our plot to win, especially as we were up against some stiff opposition,’ she says. ‘We’re delighted and very excited to be named the winner. Stafford is a small place but we have a very enthusiastic and passionate core group of volunteers who are going to help turn this unloved plot of land into a natural haven where we hope people will visit and enjoy a bit of nature in an urban setting.’
The other four candidates in the vote will still be going ahead with their projects but we’ll be focusing on your chosen Stafford project, bringing you regular updates so you can see how the space is gradually transformed.
Prima editor-in-chief, Jo Checkley, visited the 100 square metre plot of land and wasted no time in getting her hands dirty as the work to clear the land began.
'The piece of land is at a busy junction and at the moment is filled with rubbish and weeds,' says Jo. 'When I visited I felt so sad that it had been so neglected but it was great to meet Sue and to hear her vision for how to make this currently wasted area into something really special.'
Together with The Wildlife Trusts, Prima will help transform the land into a place for the community to enjoy and for drivers and passers-by to see and feel uplifted by as they pass it.
‘There’s a diverse, cosmopolitan local population with many elderly residents who don’t have easy access to transport,' says Sue. ‘Most of Stafford’s green spaces are located further out and when we held an event to promote The Wildlife Trusts Nextdoor Nature campaign, quite a few people mentioned that they’d like to see something done with this plot of land.’
The intention is to bring together all the volunteers and charities and groups who have pledged to support the project and draw up a detailed plan of how it will look once completed. The first step though is to clear the land in preparation for its grand makeover.
‘We’ll tackle clearing the site of litter and weeds before moving on to ground clearance,’ says Sue. ‘There’s been a bit of planting done in the past but a horticultural expert is going to visit to assess the soil and decide which plants we can add to bring year-round colour.'
Prima will be following the progress and also helping out with a big unveiling of the finished project planned later this year.
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