Over £69,000 has been raised for St Giles Hospice from its Christmas TreeCycle making it their most successful campaign yet.
Over 5,000 trees were picked up by volunteerism return for a donation.A All the funds will help to ensure that St Giles can continue to support the local people and their families living with a terminal illness.
Chloe Herbert, Head of Fundraising said ” We are absolutely delighted with the results”
A great evening was had by all at St Giles Hospice in Whittington last Thursday, when Karen Tatlow, of Karen Tatlow Garden Design, officially launched the St Giles Hospice garden project, to an audience of local business owners, Whittington and Lichfield residents and of course many from the St Giles Hospice community. Jeremy Cotton, Deputy Lieutenant of Staffordshire also very kindly lent his support by attending on the evening.
Attendees were treated to a presentation giving an ‘insiders view’ of the building of an RHS Show Garden – before the story behind the design of the St Giles show garden garden was revealed and how it will come back to the hospice at Whittington after the show.
” People were fascinated to learn of the attention to detail that is required to build a show garden, the lengths designers will go to in their quest for perfection and the sheer hard work and determination that is involved.
” Come rain or shine, hail or even hurricanes – you must have that garden finished in time for judging day and no amount of excuses – however genuine – will be accepted. Even when things go wrong – which they always do – you just have to plough on regardless!
The story behind the design of the St Giles garden was then explained – how the space is not only accessible to wheelchairs, but that a patient bed can also be wheeled into the garden. How a specially commissioned cantilevered pergola and height adjustable movable table, completely free up the space to accommodate any activity. And how ‘one offs’ like a beautifully intricate laser cut screen, with stained glass inserts and bespoke porcelain pavers are being designed and manufactured for the garden.
Guests were treated to a sneak preview of the Sunflowers for the art installation …
Guests were also treated to a sneak preview of the Metal Sunflowers that are going to make up an art installation at the heart of the garden. Anyone can support the project by buying a Sunflower for £20, with 50% of the proceeds being donated to St Giles Hospice and 50% being used to fund the show garden at RHS Malvern. Sunflowers can be bought at the following link …
https://stgileshospiceshowgarden.com/buy-sunflowers/
First the Sunflowers will go to create part of the art installation at the heart of the show garden at RHS Malvern in May, after which, if they wish, people can collect their Sunflowers in person back at St Giles.
” The support we have had so far from local businesses is amazing!
” Urban Street Designs, AT Services, Logi Engineering, Tippers, Just Granite, Lichfield Garden Centre, Gleeson Recruitment, Grangewood Garden Centre, Masonry Solutions, Downes and Daughters, South Staffordshire Paper Products, Brookside Nursery and ReadyHedge.
” These are all on board already and of course we must mention MJL Garden Design who will be building the garden, not only at the show, but for a second time back at St Giles.
” Many more have expressed their wish to pledge their support, but of course we are still hoping to find more businesses that would like to help us make this garden happen!
The evening also gave those attending the chance to find out all about the various volunteer roles there are available to help support the project. Volunteers can help to build the garden behind the scenes at RHS Malvern, or back at St Giles in Whittington after the show. There are other opportunities to get involved, perhaps with the administration side of things, or even cooking and freezing homemade meals to keep the troops going!
You can learn more about the project at
https://stgileshospiceshowgarden.com/
or contact Karen at
karen@karentatlowgardendesign.co.uk
07432 646275
St Giles Hospice “The Moments That Matter” garden project is being officially launched …
23RD JANUARY
6.30-8.30PM
ST GILES HOSPICE, WHITTINGTON.
Come along to the Launch Event of the St Giles Hospice garden project … everyone is welcome!
See details of the event & tickets here
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-story-of-a-rhs-show-garden-tickets-84152156365
Join award winning RHS garden designer Karen Tatlow to hear the ‘STORY OF A RHS SHOW GARDEN’ – sharing her experience of building and exhibiting an RHS show garden last year, which picked up no less than three awards, including “People’s Choice Show Garden” and well as attracting national media coverage.
“Building a garden from scratch out of nothing, to an absolute deadline in a matter of days and making it look like it has been there for years is no easy task. In fact it could be described as a form of insanity!
“We ended up doing all sorts of crazy things to make it happen and those are the kind of things people are most interested in hearing about.
Karen will also be sharing the story behind the St Giles garden, which will be at RHS Malvern Spring Festival in May, before being moved, piece by piece, back to the hospice in Whittington, Lichfield.
There’ll be the opportunity to find out how to pledge your support for the project, whether that’s getting involved in building the garden, spreading the word, helping financially, or signing up to help bring the garden back to Whittington.
The garden is becoming a real community project, with people, local organisations and businesses across Whittington Village and Lichfield all coming together to donate time, products, services and expertise, as well as financial donations.
“It’s an absolute joy to see so many people and businesses wanting to lend their support to build this garden for the hospice.
“We have already raised support worth an estimated £58K, which is so wonderful, but we still have about £13K to go, so every little bit that people and businesses can give is so important … and of course we cannot do it all alone, so we are also looking for volunteers that can help us!
The garden has a dedicated website telling you all about the project and how everyone can get involved at stgileshospiceshowgarden.com
All are welcome to come along to the Launch Event, whether you are a local business owner or representative that would like to find out more, or someone who is simply fascinated about the world of RHS Show Gardens!
The Launch Event is at St Giles Hospice, Whittington, on the 23rd January, from 6.30pm to 8.30pm
TICKETS ARE FREE (with a request for a donation on the night towards the garden if possible)
Tickets are avialable via EventBrite at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-story-of-a-rhs-show-garden-tickets-84152156365
Or contact Karen directly at
karen@karentatlowgardendesign.co.uk
07432 646275
