GREENER Peebles charity, who run a thriving community garden, picked up a Cultivating Communities (Gold) gong this week.

The prize, in recognition of the organisation’s food growing, was awarded at the Borders’ first ever Greener Gateway Community Awards.

Project manager Nichole Dow collected the accolade which was presented by councillor John Greenwell, executive member for roads development and maintenance.

Nichole said: “Everyone is absolutely delighted and it’s so amazing for our wonderful volunteers who all work so hard week in week out, whatever the weather.

“We have a fantastic group of retired people who give up their time.

“There are so many positive things happening for Greener Peebles at the moment but at the heart of our project is our community garden.

“We also do a lot of work with families with pre-school kids and our target groups are primary school age but we also work with the high school with kids who are disengaged from the classroom environment.

“We also work with adults with additional needs and health issues.

“We run five sessions a week including two drop in sessions and people are made welcome. It’s very much a social thing as well as getting stuck into gardening.

“We also have regular skill sharing sessions on a variety of topics such as gardening, IT and arts and crafts where people host their own sessions and talk about their interests and hobbies.

“We are very active on social media so anyone can check to see what is going on.

“Today (Friday September 30) for example we are having a climate day with a community meal and will be showing films in a solar powered caravan from 10-4pm. Tweeddale Youth Action will be making pizzas so everyone is welcome to attend.”

Councillor John Greenwell, Executive Member for Roads Development and Maintenance, said: “Firstly I would like to congratulate all of the winners from last night’s event for their achievements which are richly deserved.

“The Greener Gateway Community Awards is one small way we can as a Council thank the communities and community groups for the countless hours they volunteer towards keeping the towns and villages across the Borders looking so vibrant and cared for.

“It’s tremendously positive to see so many individuals and groups actively engaging in projects within their respective towns and villages.

“It was wonderful to gather together in-person to celebrate all this hard work, and to hear the many conversations had, sharing ideas and experiences around what can be achieved.

“In the coming months we will be reaching out to all community groups across the region to refine the awards process for next year, ensuring that they are as inclusive as possible.”