The National Conference Centre, in Birmingham, was full of excitement and celebration last night as the annual Land-Based and Environment Learner of the Year Awards took place.
The ceremony recognised outstanding talent and achievements across multiple areas of the land-based and environment sector, including agriculture, animal care and management, landscaping and horticulture, forestry and arboriculture, veterinary nursing, and many more. The evening celebrated excellence from learners in further education, and higher education, as well as those undertaking apprenticeships within the sector.
The event was hosted by Danny Clarke, also known as the Black Gardener, a celebrity garden designer, who himself changed from a career in sales to a career in horticulture and garden design.
Danny told his inspiring story of how one person had a significant influence on his decision to change careers, informing the ceremony of how his career in garden design had grown from studying at Hadlow College as a mature student, to exhibiting at RHS Chelsea Flower Show and achieving the Silver-guilt Medal for the ‘Hands Off Mangrove’ Garden in 2022.
Ahead of the awards being handed out, Danny spoke of one of his proudest achievements, having the ‘Dannahue’ rose named after him by David Austen Roses, giving a nod to his birth name.