Eden Project

Momentum builds for biggest show garden ever at Chelsea

HCA, Eden Project, Homeless Link and CLG embark on ambitious project to deliver real change for homeless people

Excitement is already mounting for the 2010 RHS Chelsea Flower Show as plans for the largest show garden ever start to take shape.

The 2010 garden, which we’re calling The Places of Change Garden, is an ambitious collaboration between the Homes and Communities Agency, the Eden Project, Homeless Link, and Communities and Local Government.

Designed by Eden Project’s award-winning garden designer, Paul Stone, the 2010 Places of Change Garden is 2.5 times the size of our 2009 silver medal winning Key Garden.

In developing a show garden of this size and scale, roles for approximately 300 services users have already been identified, with many more to follow.

They will offer planting, gardening, design, construction, and carpentry during the site development, and on-site hospitality and multi-media facilities during the week of the show.

In doing so, they will develop new skills that will enable them to move onto further training and qualifications, and turn their lives around long-term.

The 2010 garden builds on the success of the 2009 silver medal winning Key Garden which saw collaboration between 20 homeless agencies and 200 homeless service users.

The participants consistently reported a huge confidence boost, new skills, and renewed hope for their future.

Christopher Hendrickx, a resident at The Limes supported housing run by Chapter 1 in Manchester, and a participant in the Key Garden, said, “Getting involved with the Chelsea Garden gave me much more than just an interest in horticulture. It made me more confident and helped me improve my people skills. It made us all realise that we can make a difference through gardening. We’re now working on the garden at an old people’s centre in Manchester. We’ve already cleared the ground and are going to plant vegetables and flowers. I’m feeling much more enthusiastic about the future and am hoping to start an apprenticeship and move into accommodation of my own soon”.

The Places of Change Garden will offer more opportunities for the visitor to explore and discover the stories and individual “places of change” of the people taking part. It will feature a number of designated zones such as crops and food; florestry and leisure; medicine and health; industry and manufacture; and conservation and the environment; all of which act as a metaphor for new skills and the journey embarked on by the individual to get there. The overall impression will be one of craft and enterprise and the importance of teamwork.

Adjacent to the garden there will be trade stands showcasing some of the excellent work undertaken by homeless individuals and teams, which will serve to reinforce the information about the Places of Change programme, as well as that of the participating agencies.

Agencies interested in taking part should contact Homeless Link.

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Categories:

Community, Environment, Horticulture

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Community, Horticulture