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Not much gets the SiteBites team out into natural daylight. So when we tell you we’re going to brave the sunshine on 27th June, just after the year’s longest day, you know it has to be for a good cause. And it is.
We’ll be slapping on the Factor 5,000 to help Limbcare build their Journey Garden at the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show. And you can help us to help them.
Click here to sponsor a plant in Limbcare’s Journey Garden.
What is Limbcare?
Limbcare is an amazing charity that offers hope, advice and peer support to the limb impaired and those affected around them. It was founded in 2011 by Ray Edwards MBE, the UK’s longest-surviving quadruple amputee. Ray lost four limbs to septicaemia in 1987, but has gone on to lead an inspiring life – writing books, climbing Kilimanjaro, giving inspirational talks, and founding Limbcare. He’s one of those people who does more in a tea break than most of us do in a decade.
Why a garden?
The Journey Garden is a living 3-D representation of the journey that amputees move through, from the trauma of the loss of their limb, to the help and support they get from Limbcare. As Limbcare explain: “The bridge over the pebble stream represents the amputee reaching out to the charity and receiving a helping hand. The planting is designed to offer a human, calming space where the power of nature to heal is manifest.” The garden design has been created by Edward Mairis, who won a Bronze medal at last year’s Flower Show. Here’s the plan:
The garden will be built by the talented team at The Garden Concierge, and hindered by the not-so-talented (as far as outdoorsy-stuff goes) team here at SiteBites.
Click here to sponsor a plant in Limbcare’s Journey Garden.
Why are you shunning the basement to do this?
It’s not all because of our Vitamin D deficiency. Our director, James, has known Ray for many years, and has seen how committed he is to helping other amputees get their lives back together, so he wanted to help.
More selfishly, it’s also a chance for a team-building day. We’ve never actually seen one another without the flickering backdrop of a monitor.
How can I help?
As a charity, Limbcare obviously don’t have money to splurge on… Oh, what are those things called? Colourful… Pretty… You give them to ill people, and women you’ve disappointed… Flowers! Limbcare need to fill the garden with flowers and so they’re asking people to sponsor a bloom for the garden. Every plant sponsored will help represent a positive step in an amputee’s life.
Click here to sponsor a plant in Limbcare’s Journey Garden.
If you don’t know your Achillea from your Chrysanthemum and would just like to make a general donation, or a contribution towards our after-sun, you can do that too, on the same link.
Where can I mock your sunburnt incompetence as it happens?
We’ll be updating our Twitter and Facebook regularly on the day. And you can follow the overall progress of Limbcare’s Journey Garden on the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show website, here.
What if my website crashes and you’re all elbow-deep in potting soil?
We’ll be updating our customers about our Opening Hours nearer the time, and we’ll be monitoring our Ticket System for emergencies on the day. Because we’re professionals, not because it’ll give us a good excuse to find a shady spot…