Danderhall & District Guerrilla Gardeners

Having campaigned successfully for a pesticide free zone in the villages, the group became the first community in the UK to take on the management and maintenance of all the green spaces, with a local authority agreement. They have created many garden areas, wildlife habitats, fruit and vegetable plots and their big project is the development of an historical site found by the group only 8 months ago, the Edmonstone Waggonway Wall, and a child miner memorial garden. A film has been made, and they have already published a book about this historical site. The group is working with the school and takes children out every Tuesday to plant and maintain their own garden areas.

In 2022, the group won the David Welch Memorial Award for Something Special - for their Child Miner Memorial: What this group has achieved with this winning project, in less than a year, is truly remarkable. Not only have they painstakingly researched and restored a piece of their area’s heritage, and commissioned an extremely moving and fitting memorial, they have taken the whole community along the journey with them, from the very young to the very old. This important project will ensure that the local history will not be forgotten and that the community understand more about the heritage of their town.