Squire’s Garden Centres in Stanmore has presented Pinner Peace Garden with a plaque celebrating the success of their ‘Love Where You Live’ programme.
This follows the project’s special award back in March and marks the end of a four-month-long initiative, concluding Squire’s horticultural programme for this year.
The Pinner Peace Garden is a tranquil community garden located in Pinner Memorial Park. It was established to provide a peaceful space for reflection, relaxation, and connecting with nature.
As part of the 2024 programme, Squire’s awarded £5,500 in gardening vouchers to nine local community gardening projects. The initiative supports efforts that promote education, produce growth, and improve health and wellbeing through horticulture.
More than 80 applications were received shortly after the programme’s launch, reflecting the need for support among local groups. Ultimately, nine projects were selected, each receiving vouchers for plants, tools, and supplies.
Over the spring and summer, the recipients provided updates on their progress, sharing how the awards had impacted their work.
Christine Cox, who leads the volunteers at Pinner Peace Garden, said: “We were really delighted to be a recipient of a Squire’s ‘Love Where You Live’ award earlier this year. It has allowed us to continue our work on renovating the Garden and, importantly, to benefit the wider community.
“We have been able to purchase gardening materials to support our project enabling us to make good headway – the award has made a big difference.
“In particular, we have started revitalising our Long Border by planting new shrubs and perennials. This has increased the diversity of plants in the border, making it visually more interesting for visitors and attracting a wider range of pollinators. We’ve had many appreciative comments from our visitors who have already noticed the improvement.”
Sarah Squire, Chairman of Squire’s Garden Centres, commented: “We were really pleased to make awards to a range of important local projects. It has been fantastic to see that there are so many keen supporters and groups with a strong desire to enhance their local environment through the wonderful benefits horticulture delivers.
“The feedback we have received certainly confirms the awards have made a difference and assisted volunteers with some rewarding work which will be of wider benefit either to users of the gardens or the wider community. We hope these awards have helped start projects that will continue into the future and enable groups to create something pleasing for communities to enjoy or creating shared spaces that brings individuals together. Our centres are embedded in the communities we serve and ‘Love Where You Live’ enables Squire’s to give back to the local area.”
Squire’s ‘Love Where You Live’ 2025 programme will open for applications later this year.
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