Day 2 for RHS members and they seem to love the natural look of our garden. Three deep at times and there were loads of positive comments and lots of interest in the story behind its creation and its sustainability. The Welcome Project from Ilford – Una and Ishmael – were first up yesterday followed by the NOAH Enterprise Team from Luton headed up by Steve Gill who demonstrated his complete lack of knowledge about all things horticultural – which fortunately is fair enough as NOAH were responsible for building the poetry pillars and the decking area! Being RHS members, the visitors really know their stuff so fortunately the Eden Project team were on hand to help out on identification of plants that were more complex than the vegetable garden…
Mid morning a BBC film crew turned up to get some footage for A Taste of Chelsea – they took an hour to get about 10 seconds of footage of some of the edible plants in our garden. And then I was interviewed by Peter White from You and Yours on Radio 4, about the garden and what it stands for, due to go out on Friday at midday. Peter also spoke to Mark, who suffered from depression and was referred to NOAH and Richard, a volunteer, who were undoubtedly more interesting than me. I shall probably be edited out!
In the afternoon, the guys from St Edmunds Society in Norwich came along to man the stand. In between handing out leaflets and chatting to visitors, Ian, the woodwork tutor, found a moment to have a chat about the experience:
“It is just great to see the expression on people’s faces when I tell them about the garden. They really feel the warmth of what we are representing. Being involved in the project has been great for the young guys at St Eds – coming from the background that many of them do, it is rare that they have ever been told that they have done something well, that they can be proud of. And now, here they are at the Chelsea Flower Show talking to people about the garden and about the table in the pavilion that they have made – demonstrating real skills and real teamwork. It’s just fantastic.”
Vilnis, Clifford and Liam from St Eds were taking a break behind the tool shed so had a bit of time to have a chat…
Vilnis commented, “I like being useful and so working on this project has been great. ASF had their own ideas about how we should design the table, but I was also able to express myself and they listened to me and what the other team members thought. It’s good to come to the show and see the table in the garden.”
Liam joked, “It’s great to be here today. Everything seems to be up to the Queen’s standard. I’ve had a look around the show and I really like some of the sculptures. I enjoy being useful and being with people who share the same interests.
Gill Perkins – Head of Marketing & Communications – Homeless Link
(Covering for a busy Rebecca Sycamore)
