Kulsum Karolia’s graphic design project for the Lemon Tree Trust wins award
Congratulations to graphic designer Kulsum Karolia on winning a Bronze Creative Conscience Award for her Lemon Tree Trust project.
As part of a final year project at the Manchester School of Art, UK, Kulsum and fellow students were tasked with creatively responding to and raising awareness about a social issue – to inspire and educate a global audience.
We were delighted when Kulsum chose Lemon Tree Trust.
She said: “Something that really stood out to me were the stories of the refugee gardeners that you have on your website and I was truly touched by those.”
After chatting with our Operations and Communications Director, Jennie Spears, to learn more about the work we do to bring gardening activities to refugee and IDP (internally displaced people) camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Kulsum set to work.
The result?
A wonderful paper cut animation presenting the joy and beauty home gardens bring to people who have been forcibly displaced.
Kulsum says: “The simple act of gardening has had a profound impact on mental health, giving people hope, restoring dignity and surrounding them with beauty. To help [Lemon Tree Trust] raise awareness, I created a video using a series of paper cuttings to sit alongside their existing online presence.”
“To reflect the way that we garden, I took a hands-on approach and paper cut elements to create all the imagery and some of the type used in the video.”
We think Kulsum’s final result is brilliant.
Our thanks go to Kulsum for creating this beautiful animation to help us raise awareness about our work. We wish her every success in her future career as a graphic designer. You can learn more about Kulsum’s work and follow her progress via Instagram.
Support gardening activities in refugee and IDP camps
The Lemon Tree Trust welcomes one-off and regular donations.
To make a donation, please go to: lemontreetrust.org/donate.
Our core infrastructure costs are fully funded so 100% of your donation directly supports gardening projects and initiatives in refugee communities.
- £10 / $10 funds a Home Garden Starter Kit for a new family arriving in the camp, containing a Home Garden Manual, seeds, tools, a grow-bag and a children’s gardening activity
- £20 / $ 20 gives a family a lemon tree providing shade and fruit
- £100 / $100 provides 4 schools with a Children’s Garden Starter Kit for classrooms
We have launched our Spring 2026: Tree & Plant Appeal, inviting supporters to help families displaced by war grow gardens that bring food, shade, sanctuary and beauty to the places they now call home. There are over 1.34 million displaced people living in Iraq, more than 300,000 of them Syrian refugees. Many live in camps … Continued
Gardens That Can Save the World, a new book by award-winning garden designer Lottie Delamain, features Lemon Tree Trust and we are honoured to be included. The book, published on 12 March by Thames & Hudson, brings together 65 projects from around the world, exploring how gardens and growing can address some of the most … Continued
We are pleased to have run a small gardening project with the Êriș Centre in Qamishli, Syria. The centre helps supports 12 children aged five and above with a range of disabilities and additional needs. They are supported by a team of 17 trainers, assistants and supervisors. We arranged two simple gardening activities for the … Continued