Winter competition winner announced
Congratulations to Cheryl, in Jakarta, Indonesia, for winning our special winter competition in collaboration with Grace Alexander Flowers. A signed copy of Grace’s book, ‘Grow and Gather’, and some extra goodies will be posted out to Cheryl soon.
In the competition people were invited to share a special seasonal plant or floral tradition that brings them joy at this time of year and helps makes their house a home. We were delighted to receive entries from all over the world, including Germany, UK, USA and Indonesia, showing that plants and flowers bring us joy wherever we are living and whatever our situation.
Our team in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) had the pleasure of judging our competition entries.
“It was incredibly tough to choose just one winner because the judging team considered everyone’s entries to be beautiful. We loved reading about why their chosen plants and flowers bring them joy and help make house a home in these colder winter months.
However, we all agreed that Cheryl’s words really stood out and affected us. Cheryl shares how plants help to heal our souls, especially for her father who is with her at home right now.
Congratulations to Cheryl and thank you to everyone who entered into our special competition.”
Aveen Ibrahem, KRI Operations Manager
Thank you to everyone who entered our competition and has supported our winter appeal.
There’s still time to make a donation to our appeal to help spread the joy of gardening to displaced people in 2023.
Aveen Ibrahem is Operations Manager at Lemon Tree Trust, overseeing our community gardening and cooking programmes across the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Her work supports activities in Azadî Community Garden in Domiz 1 camp, as well as outreach and coordination across the nine camps where Lemon Tree Trust currently operates. Having lived in Domiz 1 … Continued
Inside the polytunnels at the Hêvî Community Garden in Gawilan refugee camp, Garden Manager Othman Qewas carefully selects fruit trees and flowering plants grown from seed. Joined by Hamid Abdullah, Lemon Tree Trust’s Horticulture and Landscape Consultant, the plants are loaded into the car before setting off to visit families across the camp. As part of our ongoing children’s outreach programme in Gawilan camp, … Continued
Bringing together residents to celebrate the home gardens they have grown, tended and transformed over the past year, Lemon Tree Trust’s 2026 Annual Garden Competitions have taken place across nine refugee and IDP (internally displaced people) camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. This year’s competitions introduced a greater emphasis on welcoming new participants alongside … Continued