Chris Bavin travels to Evington to meet the Leicestershire Bloomers who are determined to use gardening to combat social isolation and win their first gold award.

Firstly, a group of elderly volunteers who look after Burnaby Gardens revive an overgrown area of this historic park with a brand new planting scheme. Next, the Gardening Club transforms an abandoned strip of land at the local primary school into a bee-friendly wildlife area. Finally, the volunteers undertake an ambitious food growing project – by turning an empty polytunnel into an innovative aquaponic farm, using fish to fertilise plants that aren’t grown in soil. The scale of all their ambition means the Bloomers have a huge amount to do before the judges come in eight weeks’ time. Show less