The Friends of Airedale organise the initiative, which aims to encourage staff at the Steeton hospital to brighten up courtyard areas around the building – for the benefit of patients, visitors and colleagues. Gold award winner was Anne Robertson, who heads up a small team of garden volunteers in the hospital’s electro-medical engineering department. Scaffolding in many of the courtyard areas meant entrants were restricted to utilising existing flowerbeds or pots, and had to avoid planting anything against walls or in the ground. Mr Lofthouse adds: "It was a really difficult decision for us this year, as these three garden areas were all quite different in both scale and approach, but each had winning merits. The Friends of Airedale is a group of volunteers which supports the hospital by undertaking a number of roles within the premises and in the community.