Award-winning Sheffield park volunteer gardeners strengthen ties with council
A group of volunteers who look after the Walled Garden in Hillsborough Park, Sheffield have strengthened their relationship with the city council.
Hillsborough Walled Gardeners are a group of more than 20 volunteers who maintain the space which dates back to the 18th century. It was once the kitchen garden of Hillsborough Hall.
The team were Yorkshire In Bloom Platinum Award winners in 2024 and 2025.
A meeting of Sheffield City Council’s charity trustee sub-committee on Tuesday (January 19) agreed to grant them a licence to continue their activities.
The committee made the decision because the park is held by a charitable trust, of which the council is sole trustee.
The gardeners also arrange events throughout the year to promote the park and raise around £2,500 a year that they spend on the garden. They are committed to keeping it open as a free-to-enter public space.
They want the licence because of their involvement in the Green Flag award scheme, which both the park and walled garden have won. It shows that an open space is kept up to high standards.
Quality
It is a requirement for a Community Green Flag that an agreement is in place with the landowner, allowing use of the site.
As well as acknowledging the group’s hard work, a Green Flag is “a valuable tool for attracting funding, new partners, and demonstrating the quality of the site to the wider community”, said a report to the committee.
Committee chair Coun Richard Williams said: “They were at one stage the Friends of Hillsborough Park. What they do is fantastic.
“It’s really a rare hidden garden in the city.”