To celebrate 25 years of Gentoo, we’re delighted to launch our annual Ready, Set, Grow gardening competition, with new and exciting categories for 2026.
Got a garden, a few pots, a school patch or a shared growing space? Then Ready, Set, Grow is for you!
We're inviting customers, schools and community or voluntary groups across Sunderland to showcase their gardens, outdoors spaces or smaller planters and pots that they have grown.
We’re looking for gardens and growing spaces that show care, effort and pride and ideas that will last into the future. You don’t need a big garden or lots of money. You just need to give it a go.
To celebrate 25 years, we have new and improved categories, including:
- Best Customer Garden: celebrating customers who take pride in their garden, large or small
- Best Small Space / Planters / Pots: for creative growing in pots, containers, patios and other small spaces
- Best School Garden / Outdoor Learning Space: recognising gardens that support learning, wellbeing and life skills
- Community Bloom Award: for shared growing spaces that bring people together and improve neighbourhoods
- 25 Years Forward: Future Grow Award: a special award marking Gentoo at 25, celebrating sustainable projects focused on food growing, wildlife and biodiversity, and ideas that will last for future generations
Our judges will be looking for photos and a short story and focusing on effort, involvement and impact, not the size of spaces or money spent.
Each category winner will receive a certificate, trophy and a practical gardening prize, such as garden centre vouchers, raised beds, planters or growing kits. Some schools and community groups may also be offered Gentoo volunteer support.
Chris Roberts, Director of Customer at Gentoo said: “Ready, Set, Grow is about much more than gardens, it’s about people taking pride in their home, their community and their neighbourhood. As we celebrate 25 years of Gentoo, we want to recognise the people in our community who make a big difference, whether that’s by growing a single plant to brighten up their doorstep, a school growing an outdoor learning space, or a community project that brings people together.
We encourage gardeners of all ages and abilities to get involved for the chance to win some exciting prizes. You don’t need a big garden or a big budget, it’s the pride, care and effort that really counts.”
Gentoo customer Mrs Wilson won the Best Garden Award in Ready, Set, Grow 2024. Speaking of her win, Mrs Wilson said: “I was over the moon when I heard I had won the competition. I have been so pleased to get back to working in the garden following a surgery I had. I love to fill the garden with colourful flowers and we grow fresh fruit and vegetables. People often stop to look at the garden and I chat to them about what we grow. It’s hard work but it’s worth it.”
Whether you’re just starting out, an experienced gardener, or part of a local school or community group, we’d love to hear from you!
How to enter
Entries must include photos and a short story, and you can enter in whichever way is easiest for you:
- Online application form: www.gentoogroup.com/grow
- In person: Hand your application form in at a local Gentoo office or give it to your Neighbourhood Coordinator Application form
- By emailing your application to: communications@gentoogroup.com
- By post by sending your application form to:
Communications Team
Gentoo Group
Emperor House
2 Emperor Way
Doxford International Business Park
Sunderland, Tyne & Wear
SR3 3XR
If you can’t take photos yourself, speak to your Neighbourhood Coordinator or contact us and we’ll help.
The deadline for entries is Tuesday 30 June. Judging will take place in July, with winners announced shortly after.
Ready, Set, Grow is about people, pride and place. From a single pot to a shared community garden, every effort matters.
Got a question? Email communications@gentoogroup.com
