Tag: voting open

Dobbies’ Edinburgh store invites local residents to cast their votes 

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. 

Edinburgh parks in running for national award

Fields in Trust has announced that voting has officially opened to decide the ‘UK’s Favourite Parks’, with the national charity calling upon the residents of Edinburgh to support their local parks.

No fewer than 16 parks in Edinburgh are amongst the 364 spaces in the running for the title including Princes Street Gardens, Pilrig Park, Holyrood Park and local favourite Inverleith Park.

Votes will see ‘National Favourites’ being lauded from each of the Home Nations, with the one with the most being crowned the overall winner for 2022. 

Having launched the campaign back in 2015, this year has seen more nominations received than ever before, demonstrating just how much the nation has grown to appreciate green spaces over the past few years. 

Returning for the first time since 2019, this year’s campaign is particularly momentous it’s the first since the start of the pandemic, in which saw a significant rise in visits to local parks.

Over 350 spaces have been nominated in 2022, with every region in the UK represented on the list.

The full list can be found here, but the nominated parks in Edinburgh are: 

  • Blackford Hill
  •  Corstorphine Hill Park and Nature Reserve
  •  Figgate Park
  • Holyrood Park
  • Inverleith Park 
  • Lauriston Castle Park
  • Leith Links
  • Lochend Park
  • Montgomery Street Park
  • Pilrig Park
  • Princes Street Gardens
  • Saughton Park
  • Seven Acre Park
  • Spylaw Park
  • Starbank Park
  • The Meadows

The nominator of Princes Street Gardens shared: “I may be biased as a proud life-long Edinburger, but the Princes Street Gardens are a city treasure and this can be seen in the appreciation and recognition that the park has received worldwide.”

A supporter of Starbank Park said: “Starbank Park is a wonderful community walled garden park with panoramic views over the Firth of Forth.

“It is maintained by a special group of volunteers who work hard to make the park so breathtakingly beautiful and an oasis of calm in the busy city of Edinburgh.”

Research commissioned by the charity has revealed that local parks are in the top five attributes that influence people when considering where to live, surpassing libraries, theatres, pubs, and restaurants. A further 32% of people surveyed found it very important that a park or green space was within the local proximity when relocating.

Following the annual Green Space Index report released earlier this year, the study – which analyses the provision and distribution of parks and green spaces in the UK – found that 2.8 million people live more than ten minutes’ walk away from a green space. With only 6% of green space legally protected in Great Britain, Fields in Trust worries that this will only worsen in coming years if we do not appreciate and advocate for our local parks. 

Commenting on the commencement of the voting stage, Chief Executive of Fields in Trust, Helen Griffiths, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to see that hundreds of parks and green spaces have been nominated up and down the country. It is incredibly heartening to hear the individual stories of significance for these spaces and this process has only emphasised the collective importance of having natural areas in our communities.

“As an organisation, we have worked for over a century to protect parks and green spaces, and there have never been such huge financial and development pressures threatening them. Now, it is up to all of us to prevent this cycle of disappearance and decline.”

The UK’s Favourite Parks was first awarded seven years ago and has already handed out the title to three parks from across the UK: inaugural winner, Telford Town Park; Rouken Glen Park in 2016; and Blackpool’s Stanley Park in both 2017 and 2019.

“We look forward to seeing the votes roll in over the next six weeks. In that time, I urge everyone in Edinburgh to vote for their local parks and green spaces.

“This advocacy and support is so important to demonstrate the importance of local parks, and by voting for yours, you can send a message to show just how valued they truly are.”

Voting is now open and will be live until 18th August.

To vote for your local park, visit www.fieldsintrust.org/favourite-parks/nominations

Woodland Trust opens voting for Tree of The Year 2021

A monster chestnut tree more than 600 years old, a hornbeam known as the ‘Teapot Tree’ that oozes character and a sycamore saved from the chop are just three of the trees in the running to be crowned the Woodland Trust’s Tree of the Year for 2021.

The list for the coveted UK-wide prize has been whittled down to just 10 from this year’s weekly winners and voting is now open to the public, who will decide which tree will be named champion.

The shortlist of 10 was selected from hundreds of nominations across our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram social media accounts using #TreeoftheWeek

Now in its seventh year, the Woodland Trust’s Tree of The Year contest highlights the UK’s favourite trees to help show their value and need for protection.

Adam Cormack, Head of Campaigning for the Woodland Trust, said: “Tree of The Year is “a reminder of the natural connection that we have with trees.

“It’s all about that ‘wow’ moment that people get when they see a tree they appreciate,” he added. “This could be standing under a magnificent old oak or noticing the autumn colours of a street tree on the school run.

“This connection is something that children and adults share. Trees can make us happy, healthy, thoughtful – or upset when they are lost from our lives. The nominations we receive for Tree of the Year on social media are a window into the way we experience trees and the richness they bring to our lives.

“But Tree of The Year has a serious message. Many of our oldest and most special trees in the UK have no form of legal protection. It’s time that our oldest trees got the same protection as our oldest buildings. Our built heritage and our natural heritage are both important and both worthy of protection. After all, once they’re gone ancient trees can never be replaced like for like.”

The contest takes place across the UK and nominations for 2021 were decided via social media for the first time.

Last year’s winner in England was a plane tree in Hackney known as the Happy Man Tree, but unfortunately even widespread fame could not earn the Happy Man a happy ending in its title-winning year as it was felled shortly after because of redevelopment.

This year a couple of trees that have been saved from the chop make the list – and there are plenty of interesting stories to be told.

 “There is a good smattering of different types of trees,” Adam Cormack continued. “Some have conservation stories, some have historical significance and others that are just awesome and eye-catching.

“The change to voting on social media taps into the instant opportunity to share the love of some of these wonderful trees.

“Trees deserve to take centre stage. Tree of the Year is a simple way to show our love of trees at a time when trees are so vital to fight the climate and nature crisis.

“Please do get voting!”

Voting closes at noon on 13 December with further glory awaiting the winner, which will represent the UK in the European Tree of the Year 2022 contest.

The nominations

  1. Beech – Silent Valley, Ebbw Vale, Gwent, Wales

This magnificent beech is a prime example of a mature tree within a woodland – a key feature of woods in good ecological condition. It has spectacular, exposed roots that are covered in moss and gnarled bark full of character and weathered over time.

  1. Hawthorn – Kipford, Dalbeattie, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland

A lonesome but fiercely proud hawthorn still managing to guard the coastline despite being battered by the elements is a fine example of a mature tree. And while not spectacular in size it cuts a striking presence in an unusual setting and is equally as important as more imposing specimens.

  1. Monterey Cypress – Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire, Wales

An iconic Monterey Cypress tree planted on the beach in 1938 and precariously clinging on to what precious little soil is left. Known locally as “Saundersfoot’s Eiffel Tower”, it was saved from felling this year after a passionate public campaign.

  1. Ash – Ettrick Forest, Selkirk, Scotland

A tree that is almost certainly a descendant of the Ettrick Forest sitting in majestic surroundings within a churchyard. Steeped in history and cultural value, this delightful ash tree is a defiant reminder of the need to deal with the threat of exotic tree diseases like ash dieback.

  1. Hornbeam – Ashenbank Wood, Cobham, Kent, England

The Teapot Tree beautifully describes this stunningly simple hornbeam’s posture, while its bark is truly eye-catching and so full of personality. It’s a wonderful example of a veteran tree that benefits from basic conservation measures – a simple fence made from sustainable materials to keep it protected in a highly visited area.

  1.  Sweet chestnut – Rnyda, Cumbria, England

A famous much-celebrated “monster” of a sweet chestnut tree. It is over 600 years old and as well as its remarkable stature and imposing branches, its twisting trunk make it a sight to behold.

  1. Parasol beech – Parkanaur Forest Park, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland

An exceptional curly beech with rare features, this tree captivated the judges. Unusually low in appearance for its species, the knotted branches grow randomly back towards the ground to add further charm.

  1. Oak tree – Helions Bumpstead, Braintree, Essex, England

Not the mightiest oak but bundles of personality and a perfect example of how oaks can host other species such as moss and ivy cascading from its trunk and branches. These coexist and do no damage to its ecosystem. This oak looks simply splendid captured in all its autumn glory.

  1. Sweet chestnut – Willesley Park Golf Club, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England

A gargantuan tree with a girth of more than 11 metres in a very different setting. The sheer size and wow factor makes it a standout entry.

  1. Sycamore – Newark, Nottinghamshire, England

A much-loved mature sycamore saved by the community in Newark, who stopped the chop for a car park. All the hard campaigning shows the power of peaceful protests – and thankfully this glorious specimen will continue to be part of the community for years to come.