Guy Taylor Associates teamed up with Mansfield based Charity; The Inspire & Achieve Foundation to design one of the 16 show gardens at the inaugural RHS Chatsworth Flower Show.
The garden which featured on Gardener’s World was entitled ‘The Good Within’ and reflected the work that The Inspire & Achieve Foundation carry out in the East Midlands supporting disadvantaged young people who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) and have barriers such as addiction, homelessness, mental health, teenage pregnancy, abuse, have grown up in care, have learning difficulties, criminal records and/or have been bullied. They help these young people find their motivation and progress into employment or education. The Inspire & Achieve Foundation use a combination of outreach, mentoring and training to affect positive change in young people’s lives and help over 250 young people each year and get approximately 65% into education or employment.
The garden, designed by Matthew Fountain; Director of Guy Taylor Associates Landscape Architecture division and based in Sheffield, and Sean Peel; An Architect in the practice’s Newark Studio took the form of a seemingly derelict building which outwardly reflects the difficult starts the young people may have faced and the way they feel society looks upon them.
The garden was 1 of 8 to be entered into a new category for RHS shows; the ‘FreeForm’ Garden category and all materials and labour for the garden as well as Guy Taylor Associates design time was donated free of charge. The bricks used in the walls were donated by Ibstock, all building materials were donated by Markowitz Builder’s Merchants, the central sculpture deigned by Guy Taylor Associates was fabricated and donated by Brightwake, the plants were donated by Guy Taylor Associates and Derbyshire builder Phil Swindell donated his time for the construction of the garden.
The 3m high central sculpture was purchased by the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire to go on permanent display within the grounds of Chatsworth.