Paul Ellison receives national recognition for volunteer work

Paul Ellison with Keith Weed, CBE, RHS President

Rochdale’s former man of Rochdale Paul Ellison has been nationally recognised for his volunteer work by the Royal Horticultural Society.

Paul was named the first recipient of the RHS People’s community accolade at a prestigious awards ceremony at the RHS’s Lindley Hall in London on Monday (7 March).

The Community Award is a new honour for 2022, awarded to anyone in the UK who has made an “outstanding contribution to a community gardening programme over a period of time, including community gardens, orchards, urban and rural programmes that bring value to the wider community where they are based.”

Paul, of Norden, began volunteering just days after his eighth birthday – starting out with the now-disbanded Naden Valley Conservation Group – and he has never looked back. He received his first recognition at the age of 12, where the countryside ranger at the time, Stuart Brown, awarded him a Certificate of Commendation for various projects in the countryside.

A familiar face around the borough, the father-of-one can usually be found getting his hands dirty, whether it’s planting flowers and trees, to clearing fly-tipping and sprucing up unloved patches of land.

Paul, who chairs local groups such as The Friends of Norden Jubilee Park, NEEVA (Norden’s Environmental and Economic Village Association), has been dedicated to improving the village and the Rochdale borough, having organised litter picks and other cleaning and tidying events over the years.

He also set up The Friends of Ashworth Valley, is a LitterHeroes Ambassador with Keep Britain Tidy and the vice-chairman of the Rochdale In Bloom effort, which has brought home a number of gold horticultural awards in the last few years.

Whilst Paul does not know who nominated him for the award – which he describes as his “biggest to date” – he would like to thank whoever put him forward.

He said: “I’d like to know who nominated me so I can thank them; I’m very grateful. I’m humbled and honoured to have been presented with this award and I will continue doing everything that I do to make our borough a better place to live.

“Thank you very much.”