22 | Acquisition International, Non-Profit Organisation Awards 2025 Apr25329 Best Gardening & Social Therapeutic Horticulture Charity 2025 – East Midlands n a mission to inspire, enable, and empower the people of Greater Lincolnshire through the community gardening initiatives it delivers, Green Synergy supports individuals across some of the most deprived areas in the region. Currently, the charity manages two community gardens, Hillside Garden and Ellie’s Memorial Garden, both of which see people of all ages supported through outreach programmes focusing on improving their mental and physical wellbeing, all whilst managing local green spaces in eco-friendly ways. Just one example of the powerful initiatives spearheaded by Green Synergy was its ‘See How our Garden Grows’ project. This threeyear community and organisational development scheme saw the charity deliver a number of community engagement programmes to double down on its overarching sustainable focus. The National Lottery Community Fund was a proud supporter of this venture, allowing Green Synergy to improve access to its transformative gardening, horticultural, and community activities. Across the numerous initiatives it delivers, the impact this charity has is significant. For example, over the past 12 months or so, Green Synergy has reached more than 4,600 people through its services, including almost 1,000 from its garden events and nearly 400 through its warm spaces and coffee mornings. 58 community engagement activities were also operated, and the team here delivered 150 emergency warm packs and 57 hot lunch club meals. Across the board, the charity’s social media posts even garnered 210k impressions. These impressive numbers start and end with the dedicated and experienced team behind Green Synergy, with the support provided by its staff, trustees, and volunteers making everything it does possible. To ensure alignment across the team, Ali and the rest of the leadership here clearly express the charity’s values of inclusivity, understanding, respect, and collaboration, mirroring these through an internal culture that is as welcoming and accessible as it diverse. This leads to productive partnerships and effective nurturing. Exploring this further, Ali explained: “Our values enable the charity and our team to deliver person-centred support. We also meet people where they are and not where we think they might be, so that we can best support individuals on their own personal mental health and wellbeing journeys.” The result is that the charity is growing communities together, uniting people for a greater purpose whilst also providing them with the support they require. Despite its dedication and the tireless efforts of its members, Green Synergy, like many charities, is struggling to support as many people as it would like. In a landscape of rising costs, those in the most underserved communities feel the impact the hardest. Of course, these same challenges are making it difficult for non-profits like Green Synergy to secure funding, which is now more competitive than it was just a few short years ago. On the back of this, Ali told us: “As a charity, we are always seeking to diversify our sources of income by identifying new ways of delivering services that enable us to access the relevant funding to support our charitable work. Delivering events, hosting garden visits, plant sales, and paid for workshops and training courses are elements of new income we are seeking to develop to generate further unrestricted funding.” Beyond this, the team here are also exploring contracting and microcommissioning to further boost their reach. Finally, when it comes to the rest of 2025 and beyond, Green Synergy is excited to announce that there is a strong chance it will begin managing a third community garden in Lincolnshire in the near future. Additionally, the charity is launching its ‘Planting Hope’ initative, which is centred around suicide prevention. More projects have also been launched, and they are being supported by a jam-packed calendar inclusive of everything from its Family Fun Day to its annual Carols in the Garden event. By providing people with a safe space and an opportunity to engage with both their community and the physical world around them, Green Synergy is building confidence and transforming lives. More information about the charity, including how to donate, can be found by following the web address listed below. Contact: Ali Talbot Company: Green Synergy Web Address: https://greensynergy.org.uk/ The English city of Lincoln is home to Green Synergy, a highly respected and award-winning local charity specialising in gardening, horticulture, and – most importantly – supporting people to learn and socialise. It is the ultimate aim of this charity to create communities that are happier and healthier, a feat it hopes to achieve by connecting people with nature. We had the pleasure of catching up with Ali Talbot, Green Synergy’s CEO, to learn more about this fantastic work. O
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