Life-saving emergency medicine service Midlands Air Ambulance Charity will be celebrated through a 'deeply moving' new show garden at BBC Gardeners’ World Live in 2025.
Conceived as a 'living tribute' to the charity's work, a garden reflecting patients' trauma and the healing power of nature will be unveiled at the anticipated annual event at Birmingham NEC, which features beautifully designed show gardens, a host of talks and demonstrations, food and drink, shopping and more for gardening enthusiasts.
From Thursday 12 until Sunday 15 June 2025, showgoers will be able to explore the garden for themselves, while fans watching at home will also get a look around with presenters Monty Don, Adam Frost and Frances Tophill as part of TV coverage of the event on BBC2.
Created by garden designers Lucy Chapman and Helen Swan and built by renowned Pershore-based landscaper Rupert Keys, the garden will use landform and planting to create 'a symbolic journey' of patients' emotional recovery.
The designers say the garden will see 'ribbons of life-saving plants ripple across two sweeping mounds, their sunrise tones echoing the dawn of hope and renewal'.
The plants, chosen for their healing associations as well as their visual impact, link modern emergency care to its roots in nature.
Co-designer Helen explained: 'We have created a space that acknowledges patients’ trauma, yet also reflects the strength that can be drawn from life-changing experiences and the role nature can play in rebuilding lives.
'People often underestimate how healing it can be to simply sit among trees and feel the sun warming a bench. After trauma, that connection with the outdoors can be transformational.'
After the show, elements of the garden will be transported back to the charity's airbase and headquarters in Shifnal in Shropshire, serving as 'an enduring place of reflection and remembrance'.
Emma Gray, COO for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, said: 'Our organisation is best known for delivering advanced treatment via our rapid response helicopters and critical care cars, which is why our Medicinal Garden places emotional recovery at its heart, acknowledging that for many patients, survivors, families and crew, the impact trauma and medical emergencies have on patients.
'We are exceptionally proud to be part of BBC Gardeners' World Live this year and look forward to welcoming visitors and supporters in June.'
