Pensioner wins award for stunning community gardens

Friday, September 04 2009 17:13:42 by Editor

A pensioner who has been credited with transforming her local area through her gardening efforts has scooped a major community spirit award.

Despite the fact that she has been successfully battling cancer over recent years, Audrey Cooper has managed to keep up her green-fingered efforts, spending around £3,000 on beautifying the courtyard of the block of flats where she lives in Whitley Bay.

While the 71-year-old undertook the mammoth gardening task for purely altruistic reasons, she has now been named as the winner of this year's community effort prize in the North Tyneside in Bloom competition.

Speaking to the Newcastle Chronicle, Ms Cooper said: "It has taken a long time but it has been a labour of love for me. But I can't take all the credit as other residents have helped me along the way.

"It has given me a lot of satisfaction and the garden has now been transformed into something which is pleasing to the eye and a lovely place to sit."

At the same time, the Yorkshire Post has reported that young offenders are being put to work transforming a patch of wasteland in Castleford into a new community garden.