To mark our 30th anniversary, we have been kindly donated a show garden at the Suffolk Show by the Warburg Family. The garden has been designed by award winning designer Frederic Whyte in memory of Penny Warburg, and invites attendees of the show to stop and take a quiet moment of reflection. At the end of the show the garden will be immediately rebuilt at the hospice for our patients to enjoy.
Since 1989, St Elizabeth hospice has cared for over 30,000 patients with a terminal or progressive illness, and the families of those patients. The hospice needs over £10.5 million each year to run and relies on generous donations from local people for most of this funding.
Talking about his inspiration for the garden, Frederic Whyte said:
“We are all unique, and have our own ways of dealing with illness and bereavement. We’ve created a space that invites individuals to commemorate, celebrate or contemplate upon the lives of loved ones. We have designed the garden to be a multi-functional, fluid space, suited to both solitary and more sociable forms of commemoration, and moments of solitude. The design has been inspired by woodland glades and green amphitheatres. The garden will be built with the generous support of D Taylor Landscapes, a Suffolk based landscape contractor specialising in bespoke builds.”
Tizy Wellesley Wesley, a highly dedicated supporter and former trustee of the hospice, who is leading the project, said:
“I am extremely excited to see this garden come to life. The hospice helps so many people and it is a wonderful opportunity to allow those visiting the show a moment of reflection whilst helping to raise awareness of the incredible work that the hospice does”.
Attendees of the Suffolk Show are invited to visit the garden, enjoy its beauty and find out more about the hospice’s Great Garden Trail, which runs all summer and into the autumn with 44 open garden events across Suffolk, including 13 open village events. The Great Garden Trail sees several gardens which are not normally open to the public opening their gates to local people in support of the hospice. On Thursday 30 May a string quartet from Suffolk Philharmonic Orchestra will be playing in the garden.