A BASINGSTOKE charity which encourages young people to grow and eat their own vegetables has won an award for its work.

Volunteers from Inspero have been given an It’s Your Neighbourhood accolade from the Royal Horticulture Society (RHS) and South East in Bloom for developing the group’s community garden behind Kempshott Village Hall.

Earlier this year, the garden was transformed from a piece of wasteland by volunteers from the group and the many children and teenagers it works with and is now home to flowers, herbs, vegetables and fruit trees.

Catherine Waters-Clark, founder of Inspero, told The Gazette: “We were absolutely thrilled. It was a very difficult one to achieve because it is the Royal Horticultural Society.

“We had a judge come out and there were specific criteria we had to deal with.

“Because we only started our garden in spring and they were coming in July, we didn’t think we would achieve anything, but the judge who came said it was fantastic and that we had done so much.

“We showed him pictures of what the site was like before and what was done. It is lovely to be rewarded by the RHS because they know what they are talking about.”

The charity is now looking for donations in order to supply its services for next year. For more information, visit inspero.org.uk.