A COMMUNITY garden project has thanked its supporters after receiving the first ever RHS Award for Sustainable Gardening.

Transition Town Wellington says the win was made possible, in part, by funding from Blue Diamond Garden Centres.

Blue Diamond offered £10,000 worth of plants and garden care products, shared equally among five winning community gardens. Transition Town Wellington was one of the winners and over the past year, Blue Diamond has followed their journey as they transformed Fox’s Fields Forest Garden.

Anita Roy, chair of Transition Town Wellington, Somerset said: “Without the funding from Blue Diamond and others, our group would not be able to function.

“Their money has enabled us to buy tools and trees, plants and compost, to host events and publicise our work throughout our community with maps, guidebooks and posters. It has helped us to highlight the positive steps that people can take to help tackle the climate and ecological crises that we all face, in a way that is good for everyone’s physical health and mental wellbeing.

“Transition Town Wellington is entirely reliant on grants and on individual donations. We could not survive without funding from supporters like Blue Diamond.”

“Transition Town Wellington’s impact has had no small part to play in the council’s acquisition of what is now a 6.5-acre green corridor, protected for the community and its wildlife for 150 years! We work in close partnership with our wonderful Town Council to maintain and nurture all our green spaces for the future.”

The judge described the project as an “outstanding achievement”.

Terry Porter, Britain the Bloom Judge (SW), said: “I was amazed at how much Wellington had moved on since I last visited - a vast improvement and the strength of the community groups was impressive. Fox’s Field in particular, is an outstanding achievement: the herb garden, flower garden, picnic area and the vegetable bales, what a great use of resources!”

The award was collected on the team’s behalf by Wellington Town Council’s open spaces manager Darren Hill, and mayor Cllr Janet Lloyd who at the time said: “It was a great honour for Darren and I to accept the national award for the RHS Sustainable Gardening 2025 on behalf of Transition Town Wellington.

“Over the last few years, Transition Town have worked very hard in all weathers nurturing the site, planting fruit and nut trees and fruit bushes which allow the residents of Wellington to go along and pick the fruit and take it home to cook and eat.”

Praising the hard work of the Transition Town Wellington team, Jill Kerr, group relationship manager for Blue Diamond Garden Centres added: “Congratulations to Transition Town Wellington’s Community Garden Project on winning the first-ever RHS Award for Sustainable Gardening! This achievement highlights the power of community, innovation, and care for the environment.

“At Blue Diamond Garden Centres, we’re proud to have supported this inspiring project along with other community projects throughout the UK, which all make a real difference in local communities and the wider world of sustainable gardening."