RHS & BBC The One Show community gardening award winner revealed

The RHS and BBC The One Show have announced the winner of the Growing Together Award 2025 for Community Gardening as Rowlands Dell NHS Health and Wellness Project.

Rowlands Dell was a formerly neglected, inaccessible and overgrown historic quarry. Thanks to the hard work of the Friends of Maghull and District CIC volunteers and the support of local organisations, the NHS horticultural team and NHS Property Services, who own the land, the site has been transformed into a restorative haven for wildlife and for the health and wellbeing of the community.

From rubble to wildlife haven

Throughout 2024, after years of consultation and in partnership with NHS Property Services, volunteers cleared this valley-like site, painstakingly raking the area to remove tonnes of litter and rubble that had been held in place by decades of tenacious ivy. 

The old, crumbling pathway was cleaned, made safe and fit for purpose, with a handrail and recycled log border installed. The new, fully accessible circular health and wellness woodland pathway now meanders through this tranquil space. 

A bug-friendly archway creates an eye-catching, welcoming entrance to the site. Where towering brambles once stood, carpets of daffodils and bluebells now brightly bloom and a dry waterfall rockery – with blue resin giving the appearance of water – acts as a focal point. Benches provide welcome opportunities to pause, reflect and enjoy nature.

Future plans include an orchard, further diverse woodland planting and a microclimate fernery with a bug hotel and composting area. Work is also underway to create water features in the shape of a bog garden and wishing well. The sound of water will provide a calming backdrop in the new picnic area, helping mask the distant noise of town-centre traffic. 

A wildlife-friendly hedge, consisting of 3,000 trees, was planted at the beginning of 2025 around the perimeter of the site. This will help with carbon sequestration, reduce pollution from cars and noise and provide habitats and food for wildlife. Fifty of the trees, comprising eight different species, were also planted in the new woodland area, alongside nine wildlife-friendly twig heaps and a raised-bed growing area. 

An NHS grant enabled the creation of numerous accessibility features, including a new pathway, a sunken garden in front of the neighbouring Medical Centre and a picnic and viewing area.

A restorative space

This cherished, biodiverse gem near a busy shopping centre is fast becoming a restorative, eco-educational haven for the whole community. Staff and patients from the Medical Centre already use Rowlands Dell for meetings, breaks and mindful reflection. Alongside the regular volunteers who continue to develop and maintain the site, Scouts, Air Training Corps and school groups are just some of the local organisations engaging with the space through volunteering sessions.

Rowlands Dell also supports clients referred by GPs through green social prescribing, offering therapeutic gardening activities that enhance physical, emotional, cognitive and social wellbeing.

Celebrating community gardening

The Growing Together Award shines a light on community gardening groups that are transforming green or unloved spaces into thriving community gardens that benefit the whole community and encourage a diverse range of people to try gardening for the first time.

Every project that took part in the 2025 competition will be recognised with a certificate of achievement for their work, while this year’s winner, Rowlands Dell, will also receive £1,000 in National Garden gift vouchers, along with a plaque and certificate. Special commendations will go to the two runners up, E2’s Urban Garden and The Plot – Princetown Community Garden, who will each receive £100 in gift vouchers. The BBC’s The One Show also visited and filmed some of the most outstanding entries.  

Set in Beaumont Leys, Leicestershire, E2’s Urban Garden is a productive, educational and welcoming space used by people of all ages. Once a neglected site, it has been transformed over two years by volunteers, youth groups and others into a thriving, inclusive and sustainable garden. It now features raised beds, a rainwater harvesting system, pollinator-friendly planting, composting areas and an accessible path network.

The Plot is a community garden in Princetown, Devon. Formerly a derelict site, it was donated by the local youth club and turned by volunteers into a shared space where all members of the community come together to learn how to garden, grow produce, get fresh air, exercise and improve their mental health. This community hub includes raised beds, a compost heap, a sensory herb garden and a wildflower garden bordered by a dead hedge.