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RHS Chelsea 2022 was a vintage year and Project Giving Back is proud to have played its part.
June 14, 2022
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The dust - both metaphorical and literal - has had a chance to settle and with many of our gardens for good causes relocated or well on their way to being completed, we’ve had a chance to reflect as a team. For a year, we’ve been working with garden designers, charitable organisations and the RHS to make Project Giving Back’s first year of funding as impactful as possible and we’re bowled over by and incredibly proud of the reception the 12 PGB-sponsored gardens have received.
Our founders and trustees had a hunch that funding gardens for good causes could have a huge impact, but it wasn’t until the show opened its gates to the public this year that we truly realised what their idea had enabled. Seeing how designers and organisations had approached the opportunity in such different ways, and hearing people’s reactions to the gardens and the stories that inspired them, has reaffirmed my conviction that this slightly unusual form of philanthropy can have a ripple effect that will help the groups we fund achieve their goals and leave a stronger legacy.
We have loved every minute of working with our 2022 teams, all of whom brought something different and innovative to the show this year. Time and time again, the themes of nature, wellbeing and the positive power of gardening were showcased and really struck a chord with visitors. The garden teams were delighted with their fantastic clutch of medals including two awards for the best garden in their category.
We strive to ensure the gardens we support really make the most of their time at the show and beyond. The charities involved this year worked hard to maximise the unique fundraising, networking and cultivation opportunities the show allows, as well as generating enormous media attention that shone a light on the incredible services they provide. We are now thrilled to see the gardens being relocated to their new locations across the country from Cumbria to Kent.
Setting up PGB and reaching this important first milestone of our first Chelsea has been a huge team effort, not only from our direct working group but also with the many designers, charity teams, landscapers, nurseries, creative agencies and freelancers, the RHS and many more, and I’d like to thank everybody that has been part of our journey so far.
With designs for the 2023 show currently going through the RHS selection process, we are already looking ahead to plans for 2024 show gardens.
We are inviting expressions of interest from garden designers and UK registered charities from 1st September until the end of October 2022. Find out more here.
Hattie Ghaui 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.
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.
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 thrilled to welcome Hattie Ghaui to the Project Giving Back team. She joins as Project Director and will oversee all funding applications from good causes, designers, nurseries and other interested parties.
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.
RHS Chelsea 2022 was a vintage year and Project Giving Back is proud to have played its part.
Hattie Ghaui 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.
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