Warwick District Council’s Green Spaces Team has received a Special Award for Innovation from the Green Flag Award Scheme for its work in Jephson Gardens in Leamington Spa.
 
Jephson Gardens is one of only 15 inspirational parks and green spaces in the UK to achieve the award, which is presented to Green Flag Award or Community Award winning sites that have made changes which have brought outstanding benefits to both their site and the local community.

The park was chosen for the redesign of the Sensory Garden, which includes a mirrored archway, taste garden and colourful planting schemes and Project Sunflower which saw 500 local schoolchildren growing sunflowers as part of a project to encourage children to develop an interest in gardening. In the past 12 months The Sensory Garden has won a Leamington Society Award and a Bees’ Needs Award, as well as appearing on the BBC’s The Instant Gardener.

Following the Green Flag Award judges’ visit to Jephson Gardens, Warwick District Council’s Portfolio Holder for Green Spaces, David Shilton commented: "I’m thrilled that our team has won yet another award for the fantastic Sensory Garden, which since its opening in 2015 has become a very popular attraction for visitors and local people in a previously underused part of the park."

Paul Todd, Green Flag Award Scheme manager added: "Congratulations to everyone involved in the Sensory Garden project in Jephson Gardens, a worthy winner of the Special Innovation Award. Research has proved that quality parks and green spaces play a vital role within their local communities. Jephson Gardens is a perfect example of this."