VOLUNTEERS from a Barrhead greenspace were part of a nationwide campaign which won the Best Environment Project at the National Lottery Awards.

Grow Wild gardeners, who helped transform the town’s water works, received the gong at a glitzy ceremony broadcast live on BBC One.

Staff and volunteers from the initiative, including John McFarlane from Barrhead, were accompanied onto the red carpet by British Olympians and celebrities such as actor John Barrowman and former Pussycat Doll member Kimberly Wyatt.

Millions of viewers tuned into the ceremony on Monday, September 12 as volunteers from the UK’s largest ever wild flower project crossed the stage to collect the prestigious award.

John, 23, has been involved with the project at the Water Works for the past two years and has seen the site undergo a dramatic transformation from a derelict sewage works to a community-friendly wild flower haven.

Off the back of his hard work, John was offered a two-year scholarship in horticulture and passed the first 12 months with flying colours.

Grow Wild, which counts Barrhead Water Works as its flagship Scottish site, was crowned the UK’s Best Environment project after receiving a remarkable 23,493 votes from members of the public.

Philip Turvil, Grow Wild programme manager, said: “It is a wonderful achievement to receive a National Lottery Award on behalf of Grow Wild and be recognised by the public in this way.

“Thanks to the National Lottery, over three million people have come together across the UK – changing lives and transforming spaces, through Grow Wild projects led by Kew Gardens.

“This award is an incredible honour; a horticultural thumbs up to all our wonderful groups and volunteers on the ground and online.

“More people are now growing the native wild flowers upon which so much of our lives depend for pollinators and colour.

“We are extremely grateful to those who supported us in our campaign and we would like to thank them and, of course, everyone who plays the National Lottery.”

Barrhead Water Works – which lies near the former Nestle Purina factory on Glasgow Road – won a public vote to become Grow Wild’s Scotland flagship site three years ago.

Since then, it has become a beacon for what Grow Wild is all about: people coming together to make a difference in their community using wild flowers native to these isles.

The two-hectare area of land, which lay derelict for over 30 years, now features willow entrances, carved railway sleeper borders, large circular concrete containers and 16,000 plants nurtured by Young Enterprise Scotland’s Training Academy.

Grow Wild, which has 73 projects across Scotland, beat off six other challengers to win its latest honour and will be rewarded with a £3,000 cash prize.