In every corner of the city, inspirational individuals and hard-working groups are building a better Glasgow, one street, park and garden at a time.

On June 15, the best of the best will have their moment in the spotlight, as we crown the Evening Times Streets Ahead awards winners.

Hosted by Glasgow City Council and supported by our partners Glasgow Housing Association, City Charitable Trust, ScotRail and Scottish Fire and Rescue, the event is a relaxed and often emotional celebration of all the hard work carried out under the Streets Ahead banner over the last 12 months.

In the beautiful surroundings of the Winter Gardens on Glasgow Green, we will be awarding prizes for the best garden, clean-up campaign, environmental initiative, community garden, green business, community initiative and school, plus a special trophy for the overall winner.

Today we reveal our outstanding finalists.

The contenders for Best Garden are Barrie Linning, whose beautiful garden also includes fruit and vegetable-growing areas; Ronnie Quinn, whose neighbours say he inspires them to look after their own gardens; and David Walton, whose pretty garden was the cornerstone of a campaign to clear up surrounding back courts.

Battling it out for the title of Best Clean Up Campaign are Friends of Maryhill Park, Maryhill Housing Association, Scottish Waterways Trust and Glasgow Science Festival and the Southern Necropolis Action Group (SNAG).

Working in partnership with the local community, the Friends of Maryhill Park volunteers have transformed a once-neglected area into a much-loved community resource.

Maryhill Housing Association’s raft of community initiatives include a ‘Wee Volunteer Project’ where staff take part in clean-up events, the Massive Maryhill Mop Up, mural painting and a crackdown on dog fouling.

Scottish Waterways Trust in association with the Glasgow Science Festival ran a three-month community project tackling litter along the banks of the Forth and Clyde Canal, while SNAG – a Streets Ahead finalist last year – have built on all the good work achieved already by turning the run-down cemetery into a wildlife hub and historical and educational resource.

The three finalists for the title of Glasgow City Council Environmental Initiative are Eco Drama, whose tours around schools (in a vehicle which runs on vegetable oil) inspire and educate young people about outdoor play and learning, nature and the environment; Re:ply Skateboards, who recycle skateboards, sell handmade clothes and run free skateboarding workshops for kids; and RSPB Giving Nature a Home Project who have created 10 new sites for wildlife in Glasgow over the last three years, and work closely with 30 community gardens to create wildlife-friendly spaces.

Greyfriars Garden in the Merchant City, 3 Hills Community Garden in Priesthill and Sandy Road Community Garden in Partick are all vying to be named Best Community Garden, while Revive Eco, The Real Junk Food Project Glasgow and Treemendus are competing for the Glasgow City Council Green Business Award.

Waste rejuvenation ‘eco-prise’ Revive Eco is the brainchild of a group of Glasgow students determined to tackle food waste. The company collects and recycles used coffee grounds, turning them into environmentally beneficial products such as biofertiliser, biomass pellets and oils for the cosmetics industry.

The Real Junk Food Project ‘intercepts’ food on its way out of shops and redistributes it to people in need, providing volunteering and training opportunities, social events and other initiatives along the way, while Treemendus, based in the Barras, recycles old furniture and runs workshops across the city.

One of the most hotly contested categories at this year’s judging session was Best Community Initiative. The four groups who made it on to the short list in the face of stiff competition are Frog Life – Green Pathways Project, G15 Youth Project’s Clean-up Crew, the South-West Railway Adopters Gardening Group and Wellhouse Allotment Group.

The South West Railway Adopters Gardening Group have transformed a drab station which suffered from vandalism into a colourful, clean place respected by the local community, thanks to the installation of a much-loved war memorial.

The Frog Life Green Pathways Project has inspired children to take more interest in and care of the nature and wildlife on their doorstep, working with 29 schools, 10 youth groups and 52 parks across Glasgow.

The growers and gardeners at Wellhouse Allotment Group have brought people together by organising planting sessions, litter-picks for local schoolchildren and working closely with nearby charities, while G15 Youth Project’s dedicated Clean Up Crew have helped to turn previously run-down areas of Drumchapel into safe, clean places to live, work and play.

As always, schoolchildren across the city have enthusiastically taken up the challenge of Streets Ahead and this year’s shortlist comprises an outstanding collection of projects and initiatives.

St John Paull II Primary’s Health Hawks – who won a Streets Ahead award in the very first campaign in 2012 – are back again with a brilliant variety of activities, from healthy eating initiatives and vegetable planting to developing a whole outdoor learning programme in the school’s own garden.

St Stephen’s Primary School have added ‘heart and soul’ to a local community garden by writing poems to be displayed there, learning about nature and gardening along the way, while Thorntree Primary School organise a vast array of community initiatives, from litter picks and delivering food parcels to elderly residents, to bulb-planting and singing at local nursing homes.

As well as the individual category winners, an overall champion will be crowned on the night.

Evening Times editor Graham Shields said choosing a final shortlist had been a ‘near-impossible’ task for the judges.

He added: “I’m delighted by the response we have had to our campaign this year, as it demonstrates Streets Ahead is still having a great impact on the city, five years on.

“With the generous support of our partners, Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Housing Association, Scottish Fire and Rescue, ScotRail and City Charitable Trust, we are over the moon to be hosting another awards evening which promises to be an emotional and inspiring event.

“The judges had a near-impossible task choosing who to put on the shortlist and an even tougher time deciding on the winners. It promises to be a fantastic conclusion to another great year of Streets Ahead.”