A HOUSING scheme in Windermere is celebrating the efforts of its gardening team following success in this year's Cumbria In Bloom competition.

The Gatesbield Quaker Housing Association sits in two acres of woodland gardens close to the centre of Windermere.

The original house and garden were left to the Religion Society of Friends by the late Stanley and Emily Davies just over 40 years ago.

The land was left so it could be developed into accommodation for 'elderly friends and others in need of such accommodation'.

The first flats were completed in 1982. Now there are 22 flats set on the grounds and the scheme is open to all older people with or without a Quaker connection.

The gardens were highlighted this year when they won the Cumbria In Bloom Special Award for Woodland Copse and received an outstanding award in the category 'It's your neighbourhood'.

On winning the award, Joyce Hawthorn, Chair of Gatesbield Trustees, said: “We are enormously proud to have had this recognition of the work done by our gardening team, made up almost entirely of volunteers.

"In particular we are pleased that it happened this year when the gardens provided such an important setting for our tenants during lockdown."

"Not only do the gardens provide a tranquil place to walk, sit, smell and appreciate, but some tenants also help with its maintenance, particularly of the fruit and vegetable plots.

"As we approach our 40th Anniversary of the first tenants moving in, we hope to be able to welcome visitors back into the gardens."