Published: Friday 4 October 2024
Updated: Friday 4 October 2024
Kensington and Chelsea’s green spaces have scooped a clutch of Gold and Silver Gilt trophies at the 2024 London in Bloom Awards last night.
What areas won?
Holland Park, St Luke’s Gardens, Cremorne Gardens, Emslie Horniman’s Pleasance, Kensington Memorial Park and Gunnersbury Cemetery all achieved a Gold award for being “outstanding”, while Silver Gilt awards for being “very good” went to Avondale Park, Westfield Park and Little Wormwood Scrubs. The borough as a whole also received a prestigious Gold award in the City category.
In addition, 19 of the borough’s community kitchen gardens also received awards in the “It’s your neighbourhood” category. Amongst these was the Balfour of Burleigh estate which achieved the top rank of 5 and also a Silver Gilt award. In addition the Olympia and Oxford Gardens kitchen gardens were picked for the RHS National Certificate of Distinction, the first in the borough to receive these.
What are these awards?
The awards recognise and encourage communities of all sizes to make positive and lasting changes to their areas and reward imaginative planting, cleanliness, sustainability and community effort.
Cllr Emma Will, Kensington and Chelsea’s Lead Member for Leisure, said:
“This is a tremendous achievement and is recognition for all the hard work of our residents and parks team. We are committed to improving our public spaces and working closely with our communities to have greener neighbourhoods.
“I’d like to thank the community for their involvement in our community kitchen gardens and I’m sure they appreciate the support and advice they get from our community kitchen gardeners.”
What else happens locally?
The Council works closely with many groups to keep the borough looking at its best, including the Brighter Kensington and Chelsea Scheme, Kensington Gardeners Club and Chelsea Gardens Guild.