Queen's award for Leamington's Guerrilla gardeners

Buy photos » GALS a shining example - Annabel Rainbow (front) with - back, left to right - Gill Barker, Honor Simpson and Lyn Buckle. 48.08.004lfa

GUERRILLA gardeners in Leamington have received The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service.

The honour for Gardening Around Leamington Spa (GALS) – essentially an MBE for volunteers groups – was announced in the Diamond Jubilee Honours list on June 2.

The quartet behind the group, Gill Barker, Lyn Buckle, Annabel Rainbow and Honor Simpson, have been operating since 2006 identifying public spaces in Leamington in need of tidying, and then digging in to make them more attractive.

In six years they are estimated to have put in a total of 4,000 hours of unpaid work, helping improve such areas as The Dell park in Leamington.

Grants to help them in their work have come from a variety of sources, including Leamington Town Council and Leamington Rotary Club.

One of the GALS, Annabel Rainbow, said: “We'd like to expand and do more, and see the award as a way of attracting attention and hopefully some more volunteers to our green gym.

“We can be contacted by anyone who has concerns for a particular area in the town and they will do their best to clean and clear and replant if appropriate.”

Visit www.downinthedell.blogspot.com for more information on the group.

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