Warrington's Sky Garden wins two prestigious awards

A rooftop garden in Warrington which aims to inspire the community to be more eco-friendly has won two prestigious awards within the same month.

Culture Warrington and Golden Square’s Sky Garden scooped Gold at the International Green Apple Environment Awards at a glittering ceremony in Kensington Palace, London.

The annual event recognises, rewards and promotes environmental best practice around the world and saw Sky Garden compete against more than 1,200 other entries.

It won Gold in the ‘Retail Community Partnerships’ category for the positive impact it has had on schools, community groups and families with fresh produce grown by a team of dedicated volunteers.

The accolade comes just weeks after Sky Garden was certified as ‘Thriving’ by the RHS in the ‘Britain in Bloom: It’s Your Neighbourhood Awards North West’ in Bolton.

It was in recognition of how the charity Culture Warrington works with volunteers to bring the community together through a series of events throughout the year, such as the annual Harvest Festival.

Amanda Moore, Culture Warrington’s Education and Sustainability Officer, leads on the Sky Garden project which was launched two years ago. It is often referred to as Warrington’s ‘secret garden’ because it is tucked away on the top floor of Golden Square’s car park – but anyone can visit at any time during the shopping centre’s normal opening hours.

Amanda said:

“The Sky Garden project has been fantastic to dream up and work on. Obviously, the work up here isn’t just about awards and recognition, but at the same time it is really good to know that people have heard about the garden and value the work we do. It’s definitely been a busy time with two award ceremonies in one month but we couldn’t be happier with how it’s turned out.”

The site is a ‘living addition’ to Warrington Museum’s natural history offer and is used for wellbeing and educational projects, with the aim to make the town centre a more biodiverse place to work and live and showcase what you can do with a small green space.

Amanda said:

“It’s hard to remember sometimes that the garden started as a bare patch of concrete. We’ve grown a lot and had some great times along the way. School workshops, harvest festivals, drawing classes, willow weaving and wandering Green Men being some of my favourite things. I’m looking forward to planning out the next year’s activities soon so watch this space!”