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When Project Giving Back was first conceived at the beginning of last year, Rosie Atkins was an obvious choice to be invited to get involved. Rosie began her career in journalism at the Sunday Times and 30 years ago launched Gardens Illustrated magazine. After ten years as editor, she left to become Curator of Chelsea Physic Garden. She has chaired various RHS committees and served on the boards of several charities. Here Rosie tells us what made her want to be part of Project Giving Back and why she thinks gardening and good causes are such a good fit.
March 1, 2022
In January 2021, in the depth of pandemic gloom I received a call from Arne Maynard asking if I would be interested in being part of a small team of volunteers to help set up a philanthropic project to fund charities in having a garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. It was irresistible.
I have always been interested in philanthropy, so I found the generosity of our anonymous sponsors awe-inspiring and their altruism visionary. I have been a member of the RHS ever since I was put up for membership back when you needed a proposer and seconder and have witnessed the organisation change from a rather archaic, learned society to a more accessible and relevant charity that promotes gardening for wellbeing and for the greater good of the planet.
The funding PGB was proposing would open up the greatest flower show in the world to a whole new audience and give opportunities to a wide range of good causes and a wave of new garden designers. PGB made it a prerequisite that designers and charities make use of some of the funding to relocate their garden to a permanent site after the show so that these gardens could have a lasting legacy and continue to bring joy in some form.
Of course, our donors could have made a direct donation to their favourite charities but through PGB they have provided good causes with an unrivalled platform to reach more people and more potential donations. They’ve also encouraged a real sense of partnership by providing mentors to assist the designers and their charities in navigating the complexities of creating a show garden of the quality that the RHS selection panel requires.
As the pandemic took its course, we saw people not just battling the virus but suffering from isolation, depression and worse. Many charities were overwhelmed as people needed their help even more and their resources were stretched to breaking point. Creating a garden at RHS Chelsea Flower show was probably the last thing on their wish list, but hundreds were quick to grasp the opportunity PGB was offering for them to tell their stories to a huge audience. It has been illuminating for everyone on the PGB Advisory Panel to see how the garden designers have used their talents and expertise to create the perfect platform for the charities to engage with the public, in person at the show, through the TV and media coverage, and of course through social media.
We will be monitoring what we can learn from this year’s show and how we might improve how we support charities and designers in 2023 and 2024. One of our hopes is that we can gather data to demonstrate the value charities can get from taking part in a show like Chelsea. One thing is certain, the causes we are supporting this year are getting a lot of attention, and we hope the designers will also have gained experience that is beyond price.
Find out about the gardens for good causes PGB is supporting at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2022
Or find out how to apply for funding for the 2024 event.
Grant-making charity Project Giving Back (PGB) will fund a further cohort of gardens for UK charities at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025, all of which will be permanently relocated after the show to continue to benefit the good causes that have inspired them.
Project Giving Back supports gardens for good causes at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and while the deadline (Friday 4th October 2024) for the 2026 Show Garden funding applications has now passed, we’re pleased to announce that we will be extending the deadline for the 2026 All About Plants funding category to Monday 4th November 2024.
Project Giving Back supports gardens for good causes at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and we are excited to announce that we are open to applications for funding for all categories listed on our website for 2026.
The annual Gardens for Good Causes Exhibition will be on display at the Garden Museum in London from 13 - 29 September
Since Project Giving Back (PGB) started funding gardens for good causes at RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2022, our unique grant-making charity has had a significant impact - not only on the world-famous flower show and the charities who have used the opportunity to raise funds and awareness, but also on the communities where the gardens find permanent homes after the show has closed. All 60 gardens PGB will fund between 2022 and 2026 will have a life after RHS Chelsea in permanent locations around the UK.
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It is 30 years since Mark Fane built his first garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and this year will be the last. As Crocus bows out of the show, Mark reflects on their incredible legacy of designer partnerships that have delighted show visitors and viewers and inspired a new generation of designers, landscapers and nursery folk.
On Tuesday 26 March 2024, Rosie Atkins received an RHS Elizabeth Medal of Honour (EMH), in recognition of her contribution to horticulture. Rosie talks about her career and what receiving the EMH means to her.
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For the last 20+ years I’ve been celebrating IWD in the corporate world … a world where we’ve used the day to celebrate the progress and achievements being made. And that’s been important because, let’s face it, there are still today material discrepancies in the number of women in senior and leadership roles, and in gender pay. Corporates now recognise the issue and, in most cases, are working hard to address the imbalances. However, targets of 40% of women on Boards and an 8% gender pay gap shows there is still a long way to go, and it’s a nut that hasn’t been cracked.
We are delighted to be supporting all six of the All About Plants gardens at RHS Chelsea this May. These small gardens use the power of plants to highlight the work of some amazing charitable causes and showcase new designers and specialist growers and nurseries.
Project Giving Back exists to amplify the work of charitable causes in the UK. We fulfil our purpose by funding gardens for good causes at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. The gardens are first a catalyst for engagement at the world-renowned Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show, before being relocated or repurposed to permanent sites across the UK creating an ongoing legacy and benefit to the causes and their communities.
Trees, water and a heartwarming dose of joy were the main topics of conversation at the RHS Gardens for the Future press conference this week.
Project Giving Back (PGB) will support 15 gardens for good causes at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024, including seven show gardens and two sanctuary gardens that have been announced by the RHS today.
We are now accepting expressions of interest from charities and designers interested in applying to create a fully funded show garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025. This follows our recent announcement that Project Giving Back is extending its programme of funding for gardens for good causes until 2026. Here we explain in more detail the stages and timeline for the application process.
Project Giving Back (PGB) intends to continue its support of gardens for good causes at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2025 and 2026. Expressions of interest for 2025 funding can be submitted via the Project Giving Back website from Friday 22 September to Friday 3 November 2023. All gardens supported by PGB are repurposed in permanent locations around the UK after the show as ongoing legacies for the causes that inspired them.
We are excited to be back at the Garden Museum in September with a two week exhibition celebrating the 15 gardens supported by PGB at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023. All our 2023 gardens for good causes are being relocated to permanent homes throughout the UK.
My first visit to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show site during the build always blows my mind. With 25 show gardens this year, the compact site feels full of activity, machinery and a LOT of people in high vis.
Project Giving Back offers a form of creative philanthropy in which good causes receive a gift of opportunity rather than direct funding. Wide ranging benefits include opportunities for extensive press and social media coverage, hosting exclusive events for potential donors and direct engagement with thousands of show visitors. We asked our 2022 garden teams to tell us how their experience at RHS Chelsea 2022 has impacted their charity so far.
Every International Women’s Day, thousands of “Happy IWD” messages are sent and received. Don’t get me wrong, I’m at the front of the queue when it comes to wanting to celebrate the achievements of women, past, present and future, but when it comes to international anything day/week/month, ‘happy’ is not often what I feel. While I applaud organisations for using it as a vehicle for highlighting change still needed, every year, there’s a part of me that feels frustrated because the very existence of a day is evidence that equality is still being strived for.
Speaking at the PGB 2023 Exhibitor Workshop, Katie Tait, Director of Communications at Maggie’s and PGB Mentor, chats to some of our 2022 cohort about the challenges of running successful PR campaigns in the crowded Chelsea media space.
House Nine Design and Project Giving Back helped raise over £15,000 to help those fleeing domestic abuse through the charity Furnishing Futures.
We are delighted to reveal further good causes we will support next year with the announcement of the All About Plants and Sanctuary Gardens at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023.
Following a hugely successful inaugural year in 2022, we will support more gardens for good causes in 2023. They will be presented at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, before being repurposed and relocated to their permanent homes across the UK. These include seven Show Gardens announced by the RHS. All gardens we support are inspired by UK charities and will live on after the show as a lasting legacy for their individual good causes - as teaching gardens, community spaces and other beneficial green spaces.
The Garden Museum will host a special exhibition, from 30 September - 6 October 2022, to celebrate the twelve gardens for good causes supported by Project Giving Back that were presented at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022.
To help applicants plan a submission for 2024 funding, we are sharing more information about the questions that will be asked in our expression of interest form.
From 1 - 23 September 2022, we will be inviting expressions of interest for garden funding at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024.
RHS Chelsea 2022 was a vintage year and Project Giving Back is proud to have played its part. Hattie Ghaui, CEO of Project Giving Back, reflects on the charity's first RHS Chelsea Flower Show, celebrates some of the incredible success stories, and looks ahead to the next milestone in the charity's Chelsea journey.
Hattie Ghaui has been appointed CEO of Project Giving Back, which is now a registered charity.
Once our charities and garden designers have had their design accepted by the RHS, then it’s all systems go. There is a huge amount of organisation involved in creating a show garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. As former RHS Chelsea Flower Show Manager and RHS Head of Shows Development, our advisory panel member Alexandra Denman is perfectly placed to provide insight into the many things that go into bringing together a successful show garden.
It is thanks to the generosity of our Founders that Project Giving Back exists to give good causes the opportunity to have a presence at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Here our Project Director, Hattie Ghaui, explains more about how our gardens are funded.
We are thrilled to announce the good causes and designers behind four new All About Plants gardens, supported by Project Giving Back at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022.
Project Giving Back will support 12 gardens for good causes at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May 2022. Today we can reveal seven of those gardens, with more to be announced later in January. All gardens supported by Project Giving Back will be unveiled to show visitors and viewers before being relocated to their permanent homes across the UK in summer 2022.
For the first time in the show’s 108-year history, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show was held in autumn this year. The sun shone all week and the whole experience was one of relaxed, late summer contentment. We popped along to discover more about how the greatest flower show on Earth offers an unparalleled platform for good causes to tell the world about their work.
We're so pleased to be able to announce a new and unique organisation that will provide funding for gardens inspired by UK charities and not-for-profit organisations at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
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