Macmillan Cancer Support’s garden at the 2022 RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival in Richmond, West London celebrates the kindness of ordinary people who gift a future of hope for those living with cancer.
Created by London garden designer Sean A Pritchard – who won a silver gilt medal at last year’s Harrogate Flower Show – Macmillan’s Legacy Garden tells the story of how leaving a gift in a will can help to provide support for people living with cancer in the future.
The garden’s symmetrical design reflects how one act of kindness inspires another, and formal, straight lines echo the sense of structure and stability that Macmillan provides to people with cancer – often at times of deep uncertainty.
Elsewhere in the garden, a self-filling water feature symbolises the importance of giving to the continued vital work of the charity. An emphasis on threes throughout the space – three levels, paving patterns, shrubs, benches and pergola structures – signifies how gifts in wills account for a third of Macmillan’s fundraised income, providing vital funds for the charity’s work[i]. Generously planted borders also offer a home for wildlife.
All the bespoke structures throughout the garden, including an ornamental pergola and benches, carry the message ‘gift the future’, encouraging visitors to consider what they can do today to inspire a brighter tomorrow for people living with cancer.
There are three million people living with cancer in the UK, and with this number expected to rise to 4 million by 2030[ii], it’s more important than ever to ensure Macmillan’s services are there to support people, both now and in the future.
The Macmillan Legacy Garden will be on display at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival between the 4th and 9th July. The plants and flowers from the garden will be replanted at Windrush School in Greenwich, South London to ensure their legacy can be enjoyed after the show.
Windrush School has been fundraising for Macmillan since 2008 after one of their teachers Maralyn Willmot, who’d been working at the school for 26 years, lost her battle with cancer. Having raised £70,000 over the 14 years, the garden designers have agreed to redesign the school’s own memorial garden for Maralyn with the plants and flowers from the show.
Sean A Pritchard, Macmillan Legacy Garden Designer, said: “The opportunity to design a garden for Macmillan, a charity close to so many people’s hearts, was something I jumped at. The garden is a metaphor for Macmillan’s support and the role we can all play in giving. It’s an honour to work on a design that aims to move people to act in the most positive of ways. Cancer has touched so many of our lives in some way, and I hope this garden gives visitors the space to contemplate how they can make a real difference to future generations affected by cancer by leaving a gift in their will for Macmillan.”
Kinga Kun, Legacy Promotions Officer at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “We are delighted to be working with Sean again for this year’s Legacy Garden at Hampton Court Palace. We hope that visitors enjoy the garden, and it inspires more people to consider how Macmillan has helped them, and how they can make a lasting difference to people living with cancer too. The number of people living with cancer in the UK continues to rise, so every gift, however large or small, is essential. We are hugely grateful for the public’s generous ongoing support.”
Macmillan is here to do whatever it takes to support people living with cancer, but we can’t do it without your help. Any gift, however large or small, will help futureproof vital services for people with cancer, now and for years to come.
To find out more about leaving a gift in your will to Macmillan call 0300 1000 200 or visit macmillan.org.uk/legacies.
