Another award for our Link to Nature project!
Link to Nature achieves Outstanding in RHS It’s Your Neighbourhood awards
Our award-winning Link to Nature project has done it again, earning the top rating of Level 5 - Outstanding in the 2026 RHS It’s Your Neighbourhood awards, run by the Royal Horticultural Society and Thames & Chilterns in Bloom.
Clare Randell, our Operations and Services Manager, leads Link to Nature alongside our team and volunteers and was proud to collect the award.
What is Link to Nature?
We’ve always loved our gardens in this country, but loneliness can drain the motivation to get outside, and it’s easy to ignore our outdoor spaces when our mood is low. Link to Nature, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund and Wokingham Town Council, is changing that for our Link Friends.
The programme enhances our one-to-one in-home befriending service with a seasonal programme of nature-based activities. In spring, we provide bird boxes and feeders to encourage engagement with wildlife. In summer, we help Link Friends reconnect with their gardens by growing flowers and vegetables. In winter, we offer nature-based indoor activities and crafts. Link Friends and their volunteers can enjoy a shared interest in nature through supported gardening and wildlife-related pastimes.
There is a wealth of research showing that reconnecting with nature reduces anxiety, stress and depression, while gardening and other outdoor activities can encourage mobility and improve physical health.
What the assessor said
RHS assessor Julie Graham visited Link to Nature in July 2026 and met Clare and one of our Link Friends, Anna. Her report said there can be “no doubt” that the project meets its aim of reducing loneliness and isolation, and congratulated Clare and the team on all they achieve in supporting older people in their community.
Among the areas of achievement she highlighted:
Our network of partner organisations, including Wokingham in Bloom, Wokingham Horticultural Association, Jealott’s Hill Landshare, and Maya Refillables
The success of tomato plants in creating sustainable interest for participants
The new Family Volunteer Club, which encourages under 10s and sixth formers to develop life-long skills
Environmental responsibility, from peat-free compost and recycled pots to companion planting with marigolds and choosing drought-resistant, pollinator-friendly plants
The thought and attention to detail that goes into planning activities, and a varied programme with something to appeal to everyone
Encouraging Link Friends to reminisce through nature-themed poetry and favourite books
The assessor also encouraged us to keep exploring social media to stay in touch with Link Friends, without forgetting traditional methods, and suggested more nature-themed books and poems as a source of inspiration. We’re looking forward to taking up both ideas.
What it means to our Link Friends
Behind the award is something simple but powerful. As one Link Friend told us:
“It can be quite boring living alone. Now I am part of Link to Nature, I have all these new friends with common interests. And for the first time in years, I am excited about something and I have a focus. It feels wonderful.”
A huge thank you
This award belongs to everyone who makes Link to Nature possible: our Link Friends, our volunteers, our partners, and our funders. Thank you all. We can’t wait to see the chrysanthemums “Rainbow Hippy Lovechild” in bloom next year!