Annabelle Gilbertson

Having left PGHS sixth form in 1988, I worked in the insurance industry until 2014, when I became a self employed gardener, having had my 3rd child at the age of 44.

In 2011, I attended the inaugural meeting of Let’s Grow Preston (previously known as Preston Environmental Forum), which was created to support a network of community gardens, allotmenteers and friends of open spaces across the PR postcode. I arranged umbrella insurance for the charity’s members and was the Chair of the Board until 2018 when we received funding to run the charity. By this point in my career, I had a thriving gardening services business, but, because Let’s Grow Preston was becoming more and more popular and busy, having already received funding for a garden in Ashton Walled Garden and running another site in Ribbleton, my time was being distracted from my self employed role as a gardener and was more about the future of the charity. In 2018 I was employed as the project manager of the charity and in recognition of what I actually do for the charity, was appointed as the Chief Executive.

We continue to support a network of community growers, allotmenteers and friends of open spaces and we currently run 2 sites in Preston from where we deliver horticultural therapy sessions.
Since then, we have won numerous awards and I’ve been recognised by the Queen in her birthday honours list in 2022, receiving a British Empire Medal, the highest award a commoner can receive for meritorious community work and the charity was also awarded a tree of hope in the same year in recognition of the community building work we do across the city of Preston.
In the last 3 years, the charity has prevented 6 deaths by suicide. We see over 30 people a week and deliver over 300 horticultural sessions a year. We get people back into employment, teach new skills and build confidence and resilience.

Our website is www.letsgrowpreston.org.

I know that without the education I received at PGHS, I would not have the career or the life that I have now. The education received in a female only environment of learners enabled me to see no boundaries to my abilities and although I wasn’t brilliant, academically, I felt safe at school and this was important. I didn’t experience the gender idiosyncrasies that seem to be so prevalent now just as much as in the 1980’s when a female was expected to accept being slapped on the backside was a compliment. Through my education at PGHS, I knew I could forge my own path, which I did. I still remember vividly the voice of Miss Gerard instilling the expectations of young ladies who attend PGHS. The school treated me as an individual who can achieve anything I put my mind to.