£8,000 donated to British charities following public vote of Everest front garden displays at RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

The £4,000 donation will be used by Mesothelioma UK to support the charity’s ongoing work

Three British charities are set to benefit thanks to donations from home improvement company Everest following a visitor vote at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show earlier this month.

TV gardener David Domoney was commissioned by Everest to create three front garden displays at the show. Each of the garden displays was specially designed to reflect a charity nominated by TV personalities Bill Oddie, Julia Bradbury and Carol Klein – all of whom were participating in the RHS Celebrity Theatre at the event. In addition, each of the garden displays included an attractive front door and window from Everest’s wide range of products.

Visitors to the show were invited to vote for their favourite front garden display, with almost 2,500 votes cast in total. Carol Klein’s nominated charity, Mesothelioma UK, was the clear winner with nearly 1,700 votes. As a result the charity, which supports people with asbestos-related cancer, will receive a £4,000 donation from Everest. In addition, the other two charities involved – The Woodland Trust, chosen by Bill Oddie and Mend our Mountains, selected by Julia Bradbury – will each receive a £2,000 donation.

The winning Mesothelioma UK front garden display shows a direct contrast between its two sides, with the design reflecting the support that Mesothelioma UK brings to those suffering from asbestos related cancer, specifically those in the merchant navy. On one side, a border brims with lush planting of flowers and shrubs, representing life before mesothelioma. This stands in stark contrast to the other, predominantly lawn side. A series of concentric rings in the lawn, with a propeller water feature in the middle, resemble the fluidity of life and the sea. Surrounding this is a circular border of planting and engraved forget-me-nots, a symbol of Mesothelioma UK, reminding people to think of this cancer and the dedicated nurses the charity provides to its sufferers. A sweeping path invites onlookers to travel between the two sides.

David Domoney commented: “I wanted to capture two sides of life, one symbolising the passing of time without illness, using a curved path to give you the longest route. The other, representing illness, suggests the moments of peace and tranquillity that life gives us among its challenges. All gardens can stir emotions and help us to appreciate the value of life while we are close to nature.”

Liz Darlison, Head of Services at Mesothelioma UK, said: David’s design captured the impact so well; it was a design to which we could all relate and one that we would all love to replicate in our own gardens.

“We feel so honoured to have our garden voted for by the public. The fight against this asbestos-related cancer of mesothelioma is a particularly worthy cause as it’s a quiet public health disaster, causing unnecessary devastation on a large scale.

“Many thanks to David, Everest and Carol Klein for their support, and to everyone who voted. It's much appreciated by UK patients and their families.”

The £4,000 donation will be used by Mesothelioma UK to support the charity’s ongoing work, which includes staffing a helpline service for patients, raising awareness of mesothelioma, providing treatment for patients, paying for Mesothelioma Clinical Nurse Specialist posts around the UK, and funding research and clinical trials into the disease.

Joanne Holland, CEO of Everest, commented: “The three charity garden displays designed by David Domoney were inspiring and thought-provoking. They clearly show how the use of clever design and planting can transform the front of our home, and all of them would certainly make a beautiful front garden. Our thanks to David once again for doing a fantastic job on the designs, as well as to Bill Oddie, Julia Bradbury and Carol Klein for getting involved in Everest’s charity front gardens initiative this year. They nominated three diverse but very deserving charities and it is a pleasure to support each of them, with particular congratulations going to the winning charity, Mesothelioma UK, which took over two thirds of the public vote!”

Ends

Notes to editors:

Pictured: TV personalities David Domoney and Carol Klein in the Mesothelioma UK front garden display by Everest at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show
High-res version available upon request

To view photos of the charity front garden displays and for more information, please visit www.everest.co.uk/hampton-court/

About Everest:
Everest has been at the forefront of innovation in the home improvement industry for over 50 years, offering an impressive range of high quality windows and doors in UPVC, aluminium and timber, as well as conservatories, orangeries and other home improvement products. With factories in Wales and South-East England, each Everest window is custom made and fitted to the exact millimetre. Its products are continuously tested to the latest security standards as well as a number of bespoke tests demonstrating thermal efficiency, strength and more, ensuring that the homes of Everest customers are some of the warmest, safest and most secure in the country.
www.everest.co.uk

About David Domoney:
David Domoney is a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Horticulture and presents for ITV1 on daytime with This Morning and on prime time, co-presenting Britain’s most viewed gardening programme, Love Your Garden with Alan Titchmarsh. This year David selected a rose named ‘This Morning’ at the Chelsea Flower Show to celebrate ‘This Morning’ the programme’s 30 years on television. David also recently won the Prince Edward Award for Excellence in Horticulture. He has also won 30 Royal Horticultural medals including Gold at Chelsea and a Chelsea Best in Category trophy for show gardens.

You can follow David on Facebook @DavidDomoneyTV, Twitter @daviddomoney, Instagram @daviddomoney, YouTube domoneyltd, and Pinterest @daviddomoney, where he has a combined audience of over a quarter of a million followers.

About the RHS:
The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 by Sir Joseph Banks and John Wedgwood to inspire passion and excellence in the science, art and practice of horticulture. Our vision is to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place. We believe everyone in every village, town and city should benefit from growing plants to enhance lives, build stronger, healthier, happier communities and create better places to live.

We held our first flower shows in 1820, were granted a Royal Charter in 1861 and acquired RHS Garden Wisley, our flagship garden, in 1903. From our first meetings in a small room off London’s Piccadilly, we have grown to become the world’s largest gardening charity. At our gardens and shows and through our scientific research, publications, libraries and our education and community programmes we inspire a passion for gardening and growing plants, promote the value of gardens, demonstrate how gardening is good for us and explain the vital roles that plants undertake. 


The RHS is committed to bring the joy of gardening to millions more people, inspire the next generation of gardeners and invest in the future to safeguard a £15 billion industry employing more than 300,000 people. We are entirely funded by our members, visitors and supporters. RHS membership is for anyone with an interest in gardening. Support the RHS and help us secure a healthy future for gardening.

For more information visit www.rhs.org.uk/join


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