Green space innovators fly the flag

This article is provided courtesy of the news feed at http://www.newstartmag.co.uk/news

An urban farm in Gateshead, a Croydon cemetery and an orchard in West Sussex are among the winners of an award celebrating innovation in green spaces.

The ten winners of special awards for innovation were announced today by the consortium running the Green Flag Award and Green Pennant Award.

The winners of these two awards recognising the best green spaces in the country are eligible to enter the Special Awards for Innovation, which highlights sites that are inspirational for their commitment to continuous improvement.

Among the winning schemes are a local park in Bromley offering accredited horticultural training to people with learning disabilities, a scheme in Hull providing free mobility scooters and adapted bikes to improve accessibility to a park and a community group in West Sussex that reintroduced a local variety of apple into their orchard.

The winners are:

Bill Quay Community Farm, Gateshead
Gateshead Council & Bill Quay Community Farm Association

Bromley Palace Park, London
Thyme Out Project

Croydon Cemetery, London
Croydon Council & The Shaw Trust

East Park, Hull
Hull Council

Manor Green Park, West Sussex
Manor Green Park Group

Moorlands Allotment Association, West Bromwich
Moorlands Allotment Association

Tarvin Community Woodland, Chester
Tarvin Community Woodland Trust

The Outwoods, Loughborough
Charnwood Council

Warley Woods, Smethwick
Warley Woods Community Trust

Yarrow Valley Country Park, Chorley
Chorley Council

The Green Flag Award Scheme is managed by a consortium, comprising Keep Britain Tidy, BTCV and GreenSpace.