Following a successful launch in 2023, England and Northern Ireland’s Land-based & Environment Learner Awards (LBEL) 2024 were held at the National Conference Centre in Birmingham recently.
The Awards are organised by leading land-based training & qualification awarding body Lantra, and the representative body for land-based colleges and universities, Landex, with the aim of celebrating and rewarding the industries’ top candidates.
This year’s Awards dinner 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.
Floristry was well represented at the event with the room decorated with floral arrangements created by Level 3 Technical Diploma students from Moreton Morrell College in Warwickshire.
The Awards are open to apprentices and further education and higher education learners, working and studying in land-based and environment sectors, which includes floristry. Having been initially nominated by their course tutor or learning mentor, floristry finalists were selected by an independent judging panel chaired by Prof. John Moverley. Specialist advisor to the Floristry judging panel was floral industry consultant and Floristry Trade Club contributor Karen Barnes.
With so much amazing talent in Floristry, these Learner awards were able to shine a light on and recognise the hard work and achievements of all the students nominated. The awards event was attended by finalists, their families, tutors from land-based colleges, and industry professionals and sponsors.
There were two Floristry awards categories, Apprentice of the Year and Further Education Learner of the Year, both sponsored by the Interflora Floristry Trade Club.
Apprentice of the Year went to Oliver Low, currently studying at Sheffield Floristry School and part of the team at Booker Flowers & Gifts in Liverpool.
Further Education Learner of the Year went to Charlotte Briggs, currently studying at Reaseheath College in Cheshire.
Charlotte said, ““When I found out I had been shortlisted, I was shocked and incredibly flattered. The experience has been amazing – I’ve gained so much confidence and now believe I can achieve anything I put my mind to.”
With the land-based and environment sector facing challenges in recruiting new people into the sector, the LBEL awards aim to encourage and inspire more students to embark on a career in one of the industries.
