Welsh volunteers help to create Urban Oasis
Paul Bryce and Chris Beardshaw on the Urban Oasis garden in Cardiff.
A team of volunteers from Wales will be in London this week to help
create a centrepiece garden at the world’s largest annual flower show. The volunteers, from the Merthyr Tydfil area or Heads of the Valleys
area, will be at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show to help to build
the Groundwork Urban Oasis exhibit, created by landscape designer and broadcaster Chris Beardshaw.
The 1,600m2 garden is designed to showcase the best of community gardening in urban areas. It brings together elements from gardens that Chris Beardshaw has created for this year’s major UK flower shows in a partnership with environmental charity Groundwork and the RHS.
The Hampton Court Palace Show, sponsored by Ecover, runs from July 3-8.
The first Urban Oasis garden was unveiled at the RHS Cardiff Show in April and was voted Best Show Exhibit. It showed how derelict industrial land can be transformed into a vibrant community asset.
That garden has been recreated at the Fedw Hir Eco-Centre at Llwydcoed, near Aberdare & Merthyr Tydfil, home of Groundwork Merthyr & Rhondda Cynon Taff and an environmental education centre. It will be used as a learning resource for local schools and community groups.
The Fedw Hir volunteers who helped to build the Cardiff garden will now be putting their skills to use in the build-up to Hampton Court.
Volunteer Paul Bryce, aged 28 of Pentrebach, who is unemployed, said: “Helping to build the garden at Cardiff was an honour, but working at Hampton Court is a whole new level.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity to show that the skills we have all gained from working with Groundwork mean we can help to build a garden that will be seen by thousands of people from all around the world.”