Down’s Syndrome Scotland members help build their RHS Chelsea Show Garden
This week, three young adult members of the Scottish charity, Down’s Syndrome Scotland joined garden designers, Nick Burton and Duncan Hall of Burton Hall Garden Design, and their team of volunteers at the prestigious RHS Chelsea Flower Show site to help build and add the final plants at the ‘Down’s Syndrome Scotland Garden’ which is sponsored by Project Giving Back.
Cher Collins, 32, from Edinburgh and Euan Dunsmore and Finlay McConnell, both aged 22 from North Lanarkshire, travelled from Scotland to join the volunteer team at RHS Chelsea, to help complete the Show Garden so it’s ready to showcase to RHS members and its visitors from across the world when it opens next week from Tuesday 20th May 2025 until Saturday 24th May 2025.
Leading the volunteer group and its members, Nick Burton and Duncan Hall guided Cher, Euan and Finlay over two days as they contributed to the garden’s build and planting. One of their tasks was to plant Camassia leichtlinii ‘Caerulea’ in the garden’s colourful and playful area. These tall plants, with their lavender-blue and creamy-white star-shaped flowers, had been grown from bulbs by the charity’s community at the garden’s relocation site, Watch US Grow.
Another task the young adults helped to complete was to plant Lilium martagon flowers in the garden’s contrasting, calmer green area. These had also been nurtured from bulbs by primary school pupils from Penpont Primary School in Dumfries & Galloway.
The pupils, which included eight-year-old Liam Hall-Romay, the nephew of the garden’s co-designer Duncan Hall, had watered and cared for them in the school garden so they would be RHS Chelsea-worthy in time for the show. Liam, who has Down’s syndrome, is the main inspiration for the ‘Down’s Syndrome Scotland’ garden.
Cher, Euan and Finlay were also delighted to be the first from their community to get a sneak peek inside ‘the hug’ garden building which arrived from Midlothian, Scotland this week. Designed and built by Old School Fabrications, the garden building,
which has been made using homegrown larch, sits within the green, calm area of the garden and
represents a ‘warm embrace’ that so many from the Down’s syndrome community give others through their incredible qualities such as empathy, sensitivity and compassion. Co-Designer Nick Burton said: “It’s been wonderful to have Cher, Finlay and Euan join us this week to help plant the flowers their community has grown from bulbs and lend a hand finishing some of the garden’s design features.
Their help has been invaluable to our garden team as we prepare to present our debut garden to the RHS judges, members and general public. It’s a powerful reflection of what can be achieved when we embrace the value and potential of people with Down’s syndrome – they have so much to offer us when given the opportunity to be included.”
One of the charity volunteers, Cher Collins, who also works for the charity Down’s Syndrome Scotland, as their Engagement Worker, said “I was so happy to be asked to join the team at Chelsea and to play a part in building our garden. I hope it will make others see that we have lots to offer and see beyond our disability. I am excited to hear what everyone thinks of our garden when the show opens next week.”
Eddie McConnell, Chief Executive of Down’s Syndrome Scotland, who joined the members at the RHS Chelsea site, said:
“Our members, who are all adults with Down’s syndrome, are getting the opportunity to put their mark down on the Down’s Syndrome Scotland Garden for RHS Chelsea. We want visitors to Chelsea to embrace the value and potential of people with Down’s syndrome. The opportunity to have a charity garden at RHS Chelsea gives us the perfect platform to amplify our message and break down barriers and misconceptions. We want people with Down’s syndrome to live a happy and fulfilled life and we need everyone’s help to make that a reality for the 47,000 people with Down’s syndrome living in the UK. Too many of them continue to experience barriers to employment and many more don’t receive the same access to good healthcare, that many of us take for granted.” After the RHS Chelsea show, the Down’s Syndrome Scotland Garden will relocate to its permanent home at Watch US Grow in Palacerigg Country Park in North Lanarkshire so it can make long-term, positive changes to the lives of adults with additional support needs.
The ‘Down’s Syndrome Scotland Garden’ is made possible by Project Giving Back, a unique grant-making charity that supports cause-driven gardens at RHS Chelsea, ensuring their legacy continuesby relocating them to community sites across the UK.