By Jill Stocks
A Horsforth community volunteer has been presented with a prestigious award acknowledging her work with several community projects in the area.
Penny Pinn was presented with the Outstanding Community Champion award by Councillor Sharon Hamilton, food champion for Leeds City Council, on Monday.
The award, presented at the Feed Leeds AGM and Local Food Growing Awards, recognises Penny’s huge contribution to a number of projects in Horsforth.
Feed Leeds are a food growing network bringing together individuals and organisations across Leeds communities to provide help and advice to growers across allotments, community plots, parks and all sorts of other places where food is grown, bringing them together in one network to feed the city.
A number of other awards were also presented on the evening to community projects and organisations involved in food growing across Leeds including Best Community Food Growing Initiative, Best Local Business Supporting Local Food Growing Enterprises and Best Community Composting Initiative.
Penny is involved in food volunteering across a variety of projects in Horsforth. As well as being the coordinator of Horsforth Community Cafe, held every Monday in St Margaret’s Parish Centre, Horsforth Community Garden, based in Horsforth Hall Park, Horsforth in Bloom, where she is involved with the edible herb beds and the community orchard, and through several projects with Horsforth Climate Action.
Having been involved in Horsforth Climate Action since its inception a few years ago her current projects with them are developing community composting sites at Inspiration Nursery/West End School and Drury Field, with another site soon to be added.
She also runs ‘Horsforth Climate Action Saturdays’ food and gardening events, including Get Growing, Green Gardening Fairs and Apple Days, where hundreds of kilos of local apples which would otherwise be wasted are juiced.
Claire Evans from Horsforth Community Assets Project praised Penny’s contribution to the community.
“Amongst her many associations with community life here in Horsforth Penny is involved in a number of projects connected to growing food, something she is very passionate about,” Claire said.
“On behalf of our community I would like to thank Penny for all the volunteering she does and for sharing her skills and passions with others so that we can all continue to learn and grow. What an asset to Horsforth. Thank you Penny.”
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