This year's popular Blind Gardener of the Year competition officially launches on Tuesday 6 May 2008.
Organised by the National Blind Gardeners' Club - a partnership project between Thrive, the charity which uses gardening to change lives, and the Royal National Institute of Blind People - the competition celebrates the skills of blind or partially sighted gardeners, whatever their age or experience and however large or small their growing space - from container or window box to patio or border: from garden to allotment.
Entries are welcome from individual gardeners or groups from 6 May to 15 September 2008. They will be judged by a prestigious panel of gardening experts and the prizes - worth hundreds of pounds for each category - include garden goods and vouchers from Suttons Seeds, Wiggly Wigglers, and Chic Teak, and trophies designed and made by blind ex-Service men and women from St Dunstan's. There will be an awards ceremony on 6 November 2008 in London.
advertisement
To register or obtain information in your choice of format, email bgoty@thrive.org.uk, telephone 0118 988 5688 or write to Blind Gardener of the Year, Thrive, Beech Hill, Reading RG7 2AT.
Now in its third year, this annual competition attracts not only a remarkable standard of entries but demonstrates a wide range of creative and innovative skills that will be of interest to the wider gardening community.
Marion Watts, Blind Gardener of the Year 2006, says "Gardening is one of my greatest pleasures; not for the final result - because I can't see that - but because of the creativity - the picture that I see in my mind, and because of the sense of handling life and bringing health to something potentially beautiful. If we don't share it, we lose it, and the Blind Gardener of the Year competition is a way of sharing our special approach to gardening."
The categories for 2008 are:
Blind Gardener of the Year
This category recognises an all-round gardener who gardens throughout the year with an emphasis on the environment and sustainability.
Young Blind Gardeners of the Year: under 18 years.
This celebrates the achievements of the next gardening generation and is intended to inspire more young people to take up gardening. Entries are invited from gardening groups where the majority of members are blind or partially sighted.
Blind Gardening Club or Group of the Year
This could be for a gardening club, a sheltered home group or a community gardening group where the majority of people are blind or partially sighted.
Those that register their interest by completing the Registration Form will be sent a competition pack with free gifts from Suttons Seeds and Wiggly Wigglers. Entries are accepted in any format and can be written up by another person. There is a limit of 1,000 words or 10 minutes for audio tape or CD. Up to six photographs should accompany your entry.
"We are looking for how people achieve what they do in the garden and how they have overcome particular obstacles", says Nicola Carruthers, Chief Executive of Thrive. "We are interested to know how they have been able to face gardening challenges such as bringing flowers to bloom, producing vegetables for lunch or how they might have created a quiet corner. I can tell you that from past experience they never fail to amaze and inspire us. That is what makes gardening so interesting and so different."
"The Blind Gardener of the Year competition is a great opportunity for blind and partially sighted people of all ages to show just how accomplished they are when it comes to gardening." says Bill Alker of RNIB. "Losing your sight doesn't mean losing your ability to grow and cultivate a vast range of plants. We would encourage many more blind and partially sighted people to give it a go".
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
Comment
