Reasons to be cheerful

Gardening volunteers display the banner proclaiming Arlington Square as one of Britain’s Best Loved Parks.

It’s awards season – and once again the Arlington Association has a lovely list of reasons to celebrate. The work of our tireless gardening volunteers has once again been recognised and praised, both locally and nationally.

The AA’s Paul Thompson and Alison Rice receive London in Bloom’s Gold award from Mike Fitt OBE, Chairman of the Royal Parks Guild.

• Our work beautifying Arlington Square gained us a Gold medal in London in Bloom’s Best Small Parks category.

• Once again the Royal Horticultural Society gave us the highest rating of Outstanding in their It’s Your Neighbourhood awards.

• We were runner-up to St James’s Square in the London Garden Society’s Best Public Large Square category.

• And as the banner attached to Arlington Square’s railings proudly declares, not only have we kept our Green Flag status, once again we achieved a place in the nation’s top ten Best Loved Parks in the 2017 People’s Choice Awards.

Islington received a Gold in the London in Bloom awards and, as reported in the last Arlingtonian, the borough was entered into the national Britain in Bloom awards, City category. Naturally Arlington Square was the first garden to be inspected by the national judges. We are happy to report that Islington, the borough with the smallest amount of green space per capita in the whole of the UK, won a Britain in Bloom Silver Medal.