Royal approval for stealth gardening group and theatre company for learning-disabled

Gardeners Around Leamington Spa and Side by Side Theatre have both won the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.

The awards, which include a certificate signed by the Queen and a commemorative crystal, will be presented at a special ceremony by The Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire.

Gardeners Around Leamington Spa (GALS) were nominated by Leamington Town Council for their work at the Dell park in Warwick Street.

Founded by Gill Barker, Annabel Rainbow, Lyn Buckle and Honor Simpson, the group’s first project was tidying up garden space at Leamington station.

Occasionally operating without the landowner’s permission - they telephone the council to warn them they are about to start work - they have tidied and replanted unloved flowerbeds in York Walk, High Street and most notably in the Dell.

Mrs Rainbow said: “We were very honoured and taken aback about it because we don’t have permission for some of the projects we do.

“We did get stopped by a policeman once but he just winked at us and said ‘carry on, girls, you’re doing a good job’.”

If GALS work goes on in the shadows, Side by Side Theatre is remarkable for who it puts in the limelight.

The company, which celebrates its 25th anniversary next year, relies on volunteer carers, parents and others to support adults with learning disabilities perform an annual show at Leamington’s Spa Centre.

The award recognises the contribution the volunteers, who make up half the 90-strong company, make to the development of the confidence and self-esteem of the learning-disabled through the performing arts.

Side by Side, founded in 1988 by the late Sue Teers MBE, was nominated by members of the public who have witnessed the benefits of its work.

Chairman Rod Wilkinson said: “We are thrilled at Side by Side that our dedicated volunteers have been recognised in the award of this honour.”

Side by Side rehearses at The GAP community centre in Warwick every Tuesday during term time from 7pm to 9.45pm.

This year’s show, You Can’t Stop the Beat, will come to the Spa Centre on November 26 and 27. Tickets are available from the Spa Centre box office on 334418.