Thursday 16th October 2025 would have been the 100th birthday of leading seedsman, horticulturalist and businessman David Colegrave.
David Colegrave died in 1992, and his son, Jeff, continued to run the Colegrave Seeds business, until it was sold to the Ball Horticultural Company in 2001. During his career, David Colegrave took a keen interest in supporting and promoting the development of young people, and it was with this in mind that Jeff, with his family, set up a trust in memory of David, and the David Colegrave Foundation (now The Colegrave Seabrook Foundation) was formed to support students studying Horticulture.
Peter Seabrook was a great friend of David and became one of the founding Trustees of the Foundation when it was set up in 1993. Following Peter’s sudden death in 2022, the Colegrave family requested that the Foundation be renamed to reflect this great friendship.
Today the Colegrave Seabrook Foundation, the only registered charity solely dedicated to supporting students studying horticulture and the commercial production of ornamental plants, it has, in the last 10 years alone, supported approaching 150 students with almost £200,000 worth of scholarships.
The Trustee board met at Kew Botanic Garden, Kew on this significant date and also voted in a new Chair of Trustees. Recently retired from the role of Marketing Manager at Ball Horticulture, Stuart Lowen has taken on Chair of Trustees from Jeff Colegrave.
Stuart told GTN Xtra: “The Foundation is in great shape for future years and the challenges the industry faces and how to best service them for students with their careers in horticulture. Through the support we get form the horticultural industry and companies like Westland Horticulture, Smart Garden Products and Wyevale Nurseries we can build on the Foundations established reputation as the “go-to” provider of financial support for the next generation in the horticultural industry.
"Quite by chance, we are meeting on what would have been David’s birthday, and at a horticultural venue such as Kew. It seems very fitting. I think David would be very proud of the legacy his son Jeff, the wider Colegrave family and the horticultural industry have created and the support we are able to give to so many growing Horticulturalists. Our thanks must go to Jeff for his leadership of the Trustees for an incredible 30 plus years.”
The 2026 scholarship season will launch at the end of this month and will see the continuation of the Smart Garden Products Student Scholarship, one of the most popular the Foundation run, as well as the Wyevale Nurseries Scholarship which was launched for the 2025 season. Also joining the scholarships supported by Ball Horticulture, British Ornamental Association, The Royal Society of Biology, The Crispa/Cahn Family and the Worshipful Company of Gardeners will be two brand new scholarships for 2026, both aimed at providing financial and practical support to students learning their craft of horticulture.”
Full details of the work of the Foundation, how you can apply for a scholarship or support their work, which is entirely funded through the support of the horticultural supply industry, can be found on their website;
colegraveseabrookfoundation.org.uk
