The Rugby Community Champion project has reached an exciting milestone – completing its first successful year and securing funding for a second! To mark the occasion, we gathered at Ryton Gardens to celebrate an incredible year of achievements and share our ambitions for the year ahead.

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Rugby Community Champion volunteers, local stakeholders, Rugby Borough Councillors, and staff came together to reflect on what has been accomplished. Over the past year, 16 dedicated local residents have signed up as Community Champions, contributing more than 150 hours of volunteering to support green spaces and local communities.

Volunteering has been wide-ranging – from lending a hand in community gardens, running fun activities for children, and hosting stalls at local events, to simply sparking conversations with neighbours about growing organically and caring for local biodiversity. Collectively, volunteers have attended over 20 community events and connected with more than 500 residents, inspiring more people to get growing in their gardens, allotments, and community spaces.

I've found volunteering with Garden Organic to be a very welcoming and fulfilling experience. As someone with a disability that limits my energy and time out of the house, every time I've gone to an event I've been well accommodated and have had a lot of fun. It's always felt absolutely worth the effort to get me there. Networking at the 1^st anniversary was wonderful, I got to meet lots of similarly minded people with knowledge I didn't have but they were happy to share. It's also absolutely helped with my own garden at home.

— Carys Wilder, Rugby Community Champion

The celebration event was not only a chance to look back, but also to look forward. The event gave local stakeholders and volunteers the opportunity to talk to Councillors about ways to expand the project’s reach, supporting even more residents to enjoy and care for Rugby’s green spaces – all while soaking up the autumn sunshine in our beautiful demonstration garden at Ryton.

As we step into year two, the project will continue to recruit and support local volunteers who want to make a difference in their communities and across the borough. The project will also look at supporting community focused and run growing spaces. Throughout the first year, it was evident that existing and potential community growing spaces wanted support and access to resources, the aim of year 2 is to support these spaces.

Garden Organic will continue to work in partnership with Rugby Borough Council continue to champion biodiversity, encourage more residents to connect with nature, and build a greener, more resilient Rugby. The continued commitment and passion of the Rugby Community Champions is vital to achieve this.