One of the highlights of the TCV calendar is spending four days at BBC Gardeners’ World Live, working with the next generation of conservation volunteers!
BBC Gardeners’ World Live was held at the NEC Birmingham and TCV was once again a big part of the show with our schools’ wheelbarrow competition.
46 schools took part this year from nursery to secondary level, with each school showcasing their teamwork by transforming a wheelbarrow into imaginative mini gardens that tackle the theme of ‘Food and Climate Change’. Attendees of the show were then invited to read about the creations and vote for their favourites. Over the four days, an incredible 19,880 people voted – a new record for the competition!
The winners of the judges vote were: Balsall Common Primary School and Fox Hollies Special School (secondary).
The public winner was: St James Catholic Primary.
Rebecca Kennelly, TCV CEO, said: “The schools’ wheelbarrow competition is such a wonderful display of children and young people’s thoughts on how to tackle the climate crisis through growing food. We saw ideas such as growing the ingredients to make a vegan pizza; the importance of water irrigation, planting more pollinators to help bees, and improving the biodiversity of soil; and a focus on locally grown food.
“Children and young people from across Birmingham were given a challenge ‘Food and Climate’ and these wheelbarrows really showcased their creativity, talents, teamwork and hard work. Each wheelbarrow represents a group of children who have spent time connecting with nature and learning about how to grow food and plants that help tackle some of the challenges within the climate emergency – and demonstrating this to the thousands of people who voted for them in the competition.”
A pupil from St Martin de Porres said: “BBC Gardener’s World was so exciting. I learnt so much about plants and am looking forward to coming again. It was great fun to stand next to the wheelbarrow and talk to people about it. The Gardening Club put a lot of hard work into making an exceptional wheelbarrow for the competition. I feel so happy we entered and feel confidence for next year.”
A teacher from Chilwell Croft Academy who attended the event with children with SEND from Year 3 & 4 said: “The children thought it was amazing. They particularly enjoyed seeing the other wheelbarrows, it put their hard work in context, and had great fun encouraging the general public to put counters in their bucket. Some of the children were shy and would not talk much in the group at first but by the end I couldn’t stop them! One or two of the children are very sensitive and easily upset, but whilst participating in our ‘Gardening Gang’ they are more resilient and just ‘having a go’ rather than worrying. They learnt teamwork and co-operation as you would expect, but also more scientific knowledge about how plants grow (in more depth) and which plants attract different insects etc.”
The team at TCV Birmingham ran the event, alongside a childrens’ activity station where children could spend time colouring in, planting their own flowers and plants, and completing a nature hunt. We saw many excited young faces taking part, all of whom we hope feel inspired to grow food plants at home and look after nature where they live.
TCV Birmingham are also the team who work with the local schools in the run up to the event and hold sessions in the community, through our Health For Life in the Community programme with Mondelez International. Through activities such as food growing, nature walks and healthy eating resources, Health For Life aims to make a sustained difference to healthy lifestyles in local communities across Birmingham. Find more information here.
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