Gosling Sike, described as "An excellent example of a wildlife garden" by RHS Assessors © Cumbria Wildlife Trust
More awards for Gosling Sike gardeners
Volunteers once again recognised at RHS Cumbria in Bloom
Gosling Sike provides an excellent example of a wildlife garden ... A perfect community resource ... to promote friendship and learning
Huge congratulations to our team of volunteer gardeners at Gosling Sike who have received accolades at the RHS Cumbria in Bloom Awards for the second year running.
The award ceremony was once again held at Gosling Sike in Houghton, where we hosted over 70 visitors for the occasion. Guests included Lady Cressida Inglewood; Christopher Holmes DL, the High Sheriff of Cumbria; Juliet Westoll MBE, the Deputy Lieutenant of Cumbria, and Rae Beckwith, Senior RHS Judge.
Haydn Spedding of Cumbria in Bloom presents Adam McGinley and Gary Norman with the RHS It’s Your Neighbourhood Outstanding certificate for Gosling Sike Garden Volunteer Group © Cumbria in Bloom/Chesworth Communications
RHS National Judge Rae Beckwith presents Adam McGinley and Gary Norman with the RHS It’s Your Neighbourhood National Certificate of Distinction for Gosling Sike Garden Volunteer Group © Cumbria in Bloom/Chesworth Communications
Chair of Cumbria in Bloom Ronnie Auld and RHS National Judge Rae Beckwith present Adam McGinley and Chris Dove with the RHS Community Award for Wildlife Gardening to Gosling Sike Garden Volunteer Group © Cumbria in Bloom/Chesworth Communications
The Gosling Sike volunteer gardeners, led by site manager Adam McGinley, received three awards:
- Cumbria In Bloom It’s Your Neighbourhood Community Award – Level 5 Outstanding (Gold)
- RHS Britain in Bloom, National Certificate of Distinction
- RHS Britain in Bloom, Outstanding Award for Gardening For Wildlife
Adam McGinley, Gosling Sike Manager for Cumbria Wildlife Trust said: “This is wonderful recognition for our hard-working volunteers, who have transformed the garden at Gosling Sike into a wildlife haven. These awards are richly deserved by the group who join us all year round, whatever the weather, to create this wonderful site which benefits not only wildlife but importantly, the local community and visitors too. We’re incredibly grateful to them, and to all our volunteers, who are working so hard to help nature’s recovery in Cumbria.”
For the It’s Your Neighbourhood Community Award, for which it was awarded Level 5 (Outstanding), RHS assessors described Gosling Sike as "an excellent example of a wildlife garden ... all managed and cared for by volunteers” and praised the "remarkable development of the facility over the years, from acquiring the site to what is now a perfect community resource." They said Gosling Sike was “a resource for a great many volunteers to promote friendship and learning, managing the up-keep and development of the facility and promoting environmental issues, biodiversity and gardening, as well as running a wildflower nursery and seed bank."
Cumbria in Bloom is part of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Britain In Bloom and is the county’s premier campaign to encourage people to work together in their own area, show pride in their community and keep it waste and litter-free.
Ronnie Auld, Chair of Cumbria in Bloom said: “This is the third year that Cumbria in Bloom had come to Gosling Sike for one of its Award Ceremonies. The hospitality provided by Cumbria Wildlife Trust through Site manager, Adam McGinley, is amazing …The rain this year prevented our normal site walk, but instead, Adam provided a most interesting slide show ... Visitors were particularly interested in the seed bank linked to Kew Gardens and the Millennium Seed Bank. This shows how Cumbria Wildlife Trust is helping to preserve vanishing rare plants in parts of Cumbria by banking seed stocks. Cumbria in Bloom is very grateful to Cumbria Wildlife Trust for its hospitality and would encourage as many of its members as possible to visit Gosling Sike at any time of year.”
Linda O'Hare, centre, and other volunteer gardeners at Gosling Sike © Cumbria Wildlife Trust
The garden at Gosling Sike was set up in 2020. Since then, volunteers have maintained the garden as well as creating varied habitats to attract a wide range of wildlife. This includes pollinators such as bees, butterflies and dragonflies, and many different birds and mammals.
The garden has a mixed planting scheme with native wildflowers, complemented with ornamental shrubs and grasses, sensory plants, an orchard with wildflower meadow, log piles, native berry-rich hedges, bird feeding areas, a pond and bog garden, composting area and vegetable plot – all important when developing a community site for people and nature. The volunteers also take time to record wildlife sightings in the garden and there has been a huge increase in biodiversity over the past three years.
Gosling Sike is also home to an important seed bank, set up in 2022 with funding from Cumbria Waste Management Environment Trust (CWMET). The charity collects seeds and grows plants here for local sites.
The seed bank also collects seeds for Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank Partnership, which provides guidance and training. Volunteers help with seed collection, processing, storage and data. The seeds are used to grow plants for conservation projects - rarer species are kept for longer-term conservation. Visitors can visit the seed bank when staff are on site.
Gosling Sike is also forging creative arts connections with the local community, hosting regular arts events, and is home to Carlisle’s first Men’s Shed, a community workshop for people to learn practical skills while making friends.