TV STAR ANITA RANI DELIVERS BLOOMING MARVELLOUS NEWS TO THE UK’S BEST ENVIRONMENT PROJECT
16th August 2016
Countryfile presenter Anita Rani celebrates Grow Wild being voted the UK’s Best Environment project in National Lottery Awards
Today (Tuesday 16 August) TV presenter Anita Rani presented Grow Wild staff from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew with a prestigious National Lottery Award trophy.
The TV presenter, who is currently co-hosting This Morning every Friday throughout the summer, is best known for presenting BBC One’s Countryfile as well as reporting for The One Show. Last year she swapped the great outdoors for the ballroom as she starred in Strictly Come Dancing reaching the semi-final stage.
Anita took time out of her busy schedule to celebrate Grow Wild’s achievement at one of its flagship sites in the UK. She met with staff and volunteers at Barrhead Water Works, near Glasgow in Scotland where they gathered from across the UK for a celebratory picnic and to sow seeds.
Grow Wild, the UK’s biggest-ever wild flower campaign, received an incredible 23,493 votes to be named the UK’s Best Environment project in this year’s National Lottery Awards - the annual search to find the UK’s favourite Lottery-funded projects.
Anita Rani said: “Grow Wild is a wonderful and a worthy winner of this National Lottery Award. Having faced a public vote myself I know how amazing it feels to gather such positive support. Grow Wild has boosted community co-operation and inspired people to do something positive for nature across the UK and that should be applauded.”
Grow Wild brings people together to transform local spaces with native, pollinator-friendly wild flowers and plants. Thanks to the project, millions of people are doing something positive where they live; connecting with wild flowers, plants and places around them, taking notice of nature, getting active, learning new things and sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm.
Philip Turvil, Grow Wild Programme Manager, said: “Grow Wild is the national outreach initiative of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. We are thrilled to have been voted the National Lottery’s Best Environment project in the UK. So far 3 million people have taken part in our campaign, through receiving our native wild flower seeds, community funding and by participating at events and online. Achieving national recognition is an incredible honour and a reward for everyone who’s taken part, including the many enthusiastic volunteers, and will help to secure the future of UK native wild flowers. Without the support of National Lottery players this project simply wouldn’t be possible.”
Grow Wild wins a £3,000 cash prize, an iconic National Lottery Awards trophy and will attend a star-studded Awards ceremony, The National Lottery Stars, broadcast on BBC One on 12 September.
To celebrate winning their National Lottery Award, Grow Wild are giving away thousands of FREE wild flower seed packets to people all over the UK. For more information and terms and conditions please go to www.growilduk.com
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For more information and images, please contact:
Kirstie Cusick on 07825 823945 or kirstie.cusick@lotterygoodcauses.org.uk
Notes to editors
- Grow Wild, the national outreach initiative of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, received £10.5 million of National Lottery funding through the Big Lottery Fund. Independent research conducted online and in focus groups by Forest Research (the research agency of the Forestry Commission) shows quite clearly the incredible impact that the programme has made all over the UK - www.growwilduk.com
- So far 3 million people have been involved from inner cities to the farthest reaches of the Scottish Highlands, sowing enough Grow Wild seeds to cover 3.7 million square metres. That’s enough to create a metre-wide path of wild flowers all the way from Land’s End to John O’Groats almost four times.
- The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a world famous scientific organisation, internationally respected for its outstanding collections as well as its scientific expertise in plant diversity, conservation and sustainable development in the UK and around the world and a major international and a top London visitor attraction. Visit www.kew.org
- There are seven categories in the National Lottery Awards, reflecting the main areas of Lottery funding: arts, education, environment, health, heritage, sport, and voluntary/charity
- On average the National Lottery players raise over £36m each week – making a life changing difference to the nation.
- Further information at www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk