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
Harvest time can be a good opportunity to get together, share what we are growing, making or cooking and raise funds for Lemon Tree Trust. Whether you share homegrown produce, enjoy a meal with friends or organise a garden gathering, there are plenty of simple ways to bring people together and support our work. Whether … Continued
Lemon Tree Trust supporter Katie Cox recently raised £1,000 for our work, plus £250 in Gift Aid, by organising an arts and crafts fundraising event at her home and in her garden. Katie is pictured above wearing a rather fabulous green shirt covered in lemons. Katie’s donation was made during our Tree & Plant Appeal, … Continued
This spring, we launched our 2026 Tree & Plant Appeal with a target of £30,000 / $39,500 USD to help us grow and distribute trees and plants, both ornamental and productive, to families and communities living in refugee and internally displaced people’s camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Thanks to the incredible generosity of … Continued