AN eye-catching sculpture produced in Blackburn has won a prestigious gold award at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

Community regeneration firm Newground teamed up with Chorley artist John Everiss and came up with ‘Reachout’, which has been on show in the capital since Tuesday.

The artwork, which depicts a ‘desperate’ young girl on her journey through life’s obstacles, featuring running water, stone blocks, and rosemary and thyme, was given the top award in the ‘fresh garden’ category.

And it also attracted interest from a number of celebrity fans including Sherlock Holmes actor Benedict Cumberbatch and Blackburn fashion designer Wayne Hemingway.

Newground director Nick Riley said: “This feature encapsulates what we do and we are thrilled that it has been recognised with a gold award. Winning gold at Chelsea is the pinnacle of garden design and we cannot thank John, his team, and of course our valued sponsors enough as we could not have done this without them.”

Mr Everiss said: “New-ground is an inspiration to me. It tackles the issues at the heart of society without being profit driven.

“The real life stories it presented to me were the inspiration for this design and to see this rewarded with gold is really humbling.”

Lancashire Telegraph:

As the Lancashire Telegraph reported last week, bosses have submitted plans to have the sculpture moved to Blackburn once the Chelsea Flower Show is over.

If successful, it will be sited on the roundabout in Haslingden Road by Eurogarages HQ, which was one of the sponsors behind the artwork.

The garden was created with the help of £40,000 funding and support of local businesses, which also included CSH Transport and Myerscough College.

Reachout has also been included in the ‘People’s Choice’ category. Visit www.rhs.org.uk to register a vote.