George Hassall, from Stalybridge, was announced as the first Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Young Ambassador at the launch of the RHS Vision, held at the RHS London Shades of Autumn Show.
George, who was crowned as RHS Young School Gardener of the Year in 2014, wowed the crowd, speaking confidently and passionately about his love of gardening and his new honour. He joins Alan Titchmarsh, Mary Berry, Adam Frost, James Wong and Nick Knowles as an RHS Ambassador.
A delighted George said: “What a year it has been since winning RHS Young School Gardener of the Year in 2014; it changed my life! Gardening and being outdoors is all I’ve ever known, really. It started when my family and I got involved in a community gardening project, with an allotment, orchard and beehives, and I’m always doing things like digging on the allotment, apple pressing and harvest festivals.
“I’m really passionate about the environment and it’s important for it to be protected for the future, which is another reason why the RHS and its Vision is so important. I’ve learnt all about how plants, insects and wildlife play a role in keeping the planet safe; that’s why doing gardening at school is so important. I’m due to leave primary school soon and have recently been looking at high schools; the first thing I asked was, ‘where’s the garden?’. I will make sure that I champion gardening in my high school years. I know the RHS Vision is to get more high schools gardening and signed up to its school gardening campaign and I hope I can help them with that.
“School gardening has really influenced what I want to do in the future. I will definitely be a gardener when I grow up and I will definitely do it as a hobby. I’d like to make sure I’m involved in some type of conservation work, too – it’s really important to me. I don’t like what we are doing to the environment and I think we build too many buildings rather than having green spaces. My dream job is to be the Head Gardener at RHS Garden Wisley or Chatsworth House, and maybe I’ll have a show garden at Chelsea one day!”
On his new role at the RHS, George added: “It is an honour to be asked to be an RHS Young Ambassador. It’s a very big thing for me, and my family are really proud. I look forward to inspiring other children to get involved in gardening and have fun.”
RHS Ambassadors champion areas of horticulture that they are passionate about, using their profiles and expertise to convey that passion to a wider audience.
George’s announcement came during the launch of the RHS Vision, hosted by Alan Titchmarsh, which set the Society’s plans to enrich everyone’s life through plants and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place. To do this, the RHS will help to create a more sustainable and better society, now and for generations to come, through a £100 million investment in horticulture.
As the world’s leading gardening charity, the RHS aims to inspire a passion for gardening and growing plants, promote the value of gardens, demonstrate how gardening is good for us and explain the vital role that plants undertake. They believe that everyone, everywhere deserves contact with plants and to experience gardening to enrich their lives and improve their surroundings.
