The Thrive Battersea Garden Project open garden and family fun weekend
18/06/2009
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| Deputy Mayor of Wandsworth Councillor Jane Cooper and florist Simon Lycett |
Over 750 people visited Thrive’s Battersea Garden Project in The Herb Garden in Battersea Park on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 June as part of London Open Squares Weekend. This peaceful working garden packed with colour, texture and scent with a magnificent new glasshouse, for the first time this year, offered children’s activities including pot painting, face painting and a treasure hunt. There were delicious homemade refreshments on offer and a wide variety of plants for sale including herbs, flowering annuals and salad plants.
Thrive has two gardens in Battersea Park; The Herb Garden near Albert Bridge Gate and the main garden near the sports stadium. These are open to the public to visit 7 days a week. The open gardens and family fun weekend was helping to raise funds for the redevelopment of Thrive’s Battersea Garden Project which will dramatically increase the number of disabled Londoners Thrive can help and expand its work in the local community.
As well as the public event, over 40 people attended a tea party on the Sunday afternoon. Guests included Deputy Mayor Councillor Jane Cooper, Councillors Vanessa Graham, Liz Stokes, Rosemary Torrington, John Hallmark, Jim Maddan and Baroness Thomas of Winchester. Simon Lycett, a well known floral decorator known as "florist to the stars" and Thrive supporter, gave a fantastic floral demonstration at this event and donated his floral displays as raffle prizes. Simon regularly presents on the Alan Titchmarsh Show and this year became one of the BBC presenters at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
Susan Stuart, Manager of the Thrive Battersea Garden Project said: "We were delighted with the number of people who visited us to find out first hand what Thrive does and to get ideas and inspiration for their own gardens. I would like to thank everyone who came along for supporting Thrive and to everyone who kindly donated raffle prizes including Simon Lycett, Wicked, Andrew Logan, Eric Lanlard, Real Estate Opportunities and Bronzino."