Helping Your Community Grow shortlist announced
Dobbies’ Edinburgh store is inviting local residents to cast their vote and help the UK’s leading garden centre crown the Helping Your Community Grow winner for the store.
Seventy-five groups across the country have the chance to create or refresh a community space with Dobbies’ support, and the garden centre is now asking locals to help narrow its shortlist down, to one winner for its Edinburgh store.
This year’s initiative has welcomed nominations from schools looking to enhance their gardens; charities supporting the most vulnerable members of the community proposing sensory gardens; and community groups and clubs looking to create a garden space where they can grow their own fruit and vegetables.
Newtongrange Community Garden is a community initiative looking to bring residents together. The group have begun growing fruit and vegetables to give back to the local community and are looking to encourage more locals to get involved. Dobbies’ help would provide the group with flowers, shrubs and peat-free compost.
Dalkeith Guerrilla Gardeners is a community initiative run by volunteers who aim to make a difference in the local area from gardening to litter picking. Funded by local donations and fundraising, Dobbies’ support would provide the group with plants, bulbs and seeds as well as watering butts to increase their sustainable practices.
Mayfield Nursery School are looking to improve the outdoor learning experience for the children through their field to folk learning scheme to help give back to the local community. With Dobbies’ support, the school are looking to grow more fruits and vegetables in their new polytunnels, as well as receive children’s gardening tools, peat-free compost and expert advice on the best varieties to grow.
There was a notable increase in the number of entries from groups looking to grow their own this year. This follows research from Dobbies and Censuswide (commissioned in March) that found 67% of people in Edinburgh plan to grow their own fruit, vegetables and herbs this spring. Tomatoes are set to be the most popular crop for this year, closely followed by potatoes.
The winning group for Edinburgh will receive advice, gardening products and plants from Dobbies’ horticultural team. Dobbies’ own-brand peat-free multipurpose compost, recycled and recyclable containers, UK-sourced plants and safer pest control products are among the many products the garden centre will donate.
Notably, the project that receives the most votes from all Dobbies stores will be the national winner, receiving extra funding and support.
Graeme Jenkins, CEO of Dobbies said: “We were overwhelmed with the response to our Helping Your Community Grow initiative and have seen a significant increase in nominations, with over 800 applications for 2023.
“A huge thank you to everyone who nominated their project for our Dobbies’ Edinburgh store to support. It’s now up to the public to select the winner – our Edinburgh team are very much looking forward to seeing who this will be.”
To find out more about the Helping Your Community Grow shortlist and to cast your vote, visit Helping Your Community Grow | Dobbies Garden Centres
Votes are open until Tuesday 25 April. There is only one vote per person. The project with the most votes will be the winner. The project with the most votes across the UK will be the national winner.
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