AN ANDOVER man has been honoured with a British Citizen Award for his work as a lecturer of horticulture, helping to make gardening a more accessible industry for young people with learning difficulties.

Barrie Duesbury, who is originally from Salford in Greater Manchester, but now lives in Monxton, has been in the horticulture industry since he left school at 15.

He worked on several private estates, and then went onto teach at various colleges, starting at Cricklade College in Andover, and most recently at Berkshire College of Agriculture.

Since his retirement from lecturing, the 65-year-old has gone on to work for the Living Walls project and Kieron Beattie Landscapes Ltd. at Monxton Nurseries. He has also worked with the Royal Horticultural Society as an ambassador, inspiring many young people in schools and youth groups to take an interest in plants.

He was nominated for the award both by his daughter, and a company he has previously worked for.

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Reacting to the news that he had been honoured, Barrie told the Advertiser: “I was very happy, it was a lovely surprise. I have worked hard in teaching, and I have worked very hard trying to get the industry working with the colleges.

“Horticulture is one of those industries where we are not getting enough young people in. I went into teaching because I saw young lads coming into the industry with no clue about horticulture. It’s not their fault, they were looking for a job. People were disappearing from the industry quite fast, and I wanted to see what those people were being taught. And then I got the bug!

“The enjoyment is in passing practical skills onto the younger generation.The most satisfying thing is if you get them all to pass. That’s fantastic. And if they get a job in the industry, well you couldn’t wish for anything else.”

Since embarking on teaching, Barrie has been determined to make the industry as accessible as possible. He is himself dyslexic, and says he could relate to the young people attending his classes who had academic challenges.

“When I left school, I was always told I wouldn’t come to anything. I want to break that stigma,” said Barrie.

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He continued: “I love technology, so I developed talking labels. That was about teaching plant identification with QR codes, colours, and braille. It was about trying to cater for everybody. There’s no reason why it can’t be accessible.

“I have found that most people who have learning difficulties have a better vision! We can see what a lot of people can’t, we don’t have a problem. There are so many options in horticulture for all sorts of people.”

Despite having officially left his role as a lecturer, Barrie says he wants to continue encouraging attitude changes in any way he can.

“I still want to get more involved in finding other ways of getting the industry talking to each other a bit more,” he said.

“The more the industry gets involved with colleges, the better their chances of being able to employ somebody from that college.

“You don’t need to be a brain of Britain to do horticulture, it’s open to everybody.”

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