Tony Jeffs and Stuart Newton at Barnsbury Square Gardens

BARNSBURY Square Gardens has won an international green space award for the fourth year in a row.

The garden is one of 19 Islington parks and green spaces to receive the Green Flag award, a worldwide quality marker which recognises well-maintained sites that have a positive impact on the community.

The garden caretakers, Friends of Barnsbury Square Gardens, first won the award in 2022 after volunteers worked during the pandemic to turn the space into a community hub.

Lucy Kilborn, who has been involved with the garden for at least 15 years, said it was “fantastic” to win the award again. She told the Tribune: “It’s a great boost for the team of volunteers who work very hard all year round but also for the various people who support us in various different ways including the Islington Council teams because we work very closely with them.

“I think it reinforces the tremendous bonds the community has and the power of community within everyone’s lives.”

Ms Kilborn described how such green spaces are cornerstones for connection.

She said: “It’s just a way of making people feel connected. It’s another piece of the mosaic of building a really well-functioning community.”

Any green space is eligible for a Green Flag award, however, there is a yearly inspection meaning it is not a given to retain the award year to year.

Islington’s other recipients include 14 council-run sites and four other volunteer and community-led locations who received special recognition as Community Green Flag recipients. St John’s Garden in Clerkenwell was a first-time winner.

Labour councillor Rowena Champion, Islington Council’s Executive Member for Environment, Air Quality, and Transport, said: “Our parks and green spaces are amazing places where the community can come together. In a small, densely populated borough like Islington where many people don’t have garden, their importance cannot be underestimated, allowing them to enjoy being outdoors while providing the incredible health and wellbeing benefits of being in nature.”

The UK won the most awards for the Keep Britain Tidy scheme this year with 2,250 recipients.