Celebrity gardener Frances Tophill visited Macmillan Cancer Support’s Legacy Garden, at this year’s RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, and took the opportunity to encourage seasoned gardeners to share their passion for the outdoors with younger generations.
Frances, co-presenter on ITV’s Love Your Garden, is passionate about inspiring younger people to get hands-on outdoors and she believes there’s no better way than learning from experience.
She explained: “My grandma was one of the biggest influences on my love of gardening. Sadly, she died of stomach cancer when I was eight years old. To this day the smell of pelargonium and tomato foliage takes me back to memories of helping her in her garden.
“My aunt shared my grandma’s passion and when she inherited that garden, she continued to nurture it over the years. Sadly she was also diagnosed with cancer and when she became terminally ill, I was able to help her to keep on top of the work in that same garden I had tended as a child. I am proud to be able to support Macmillan and hope to inspire others to share their gardening legacy with their loved ones - without my family serving as my inspiration, perhaps I would never have realised my passion for gardening.”
While visiting the garden, Frances also unveiled Macmillan’s ‘Living Tree’, a performance choreographed by the director of the Yellow Room Theatre, Jo Harris.
Jo explained: “The performance embodies the idea of strength and stability, using the changing of the seasons as a way of representing the services that Macmillan provides to people affected by cancer.
“The idea of laying down roots, the cyclical nature of the seasons as well as growth and development for the future help to embody the positive nature of a Legacy. The story of cancer is changing and a Legacy to Macmillan can ensure that the future generation of people affected by cancer have a Macmillan team in their corner, should they need one.”
This year’s garden has been designed for the second year running by Becky Govier, winner of last year’s silver award. The legacy of Macmillan Cancer Support founder, Douglas Macmillan is the inspiration for the garden and encourages visitors to consider their own legacy and the difference that gifts in wills can make to the lives of others.
There are currently two million people living with cancer in the UK – a number set to double by 2030. Without the necessary funding, helping people to reclaim their lives from cancer through medical, practical, financial or emotional support, will prove more of a challenge than ever.
Legacy donations, or gifts in wills, make up almost a third of Macmillan’s entire income, playing a vital role in ensuring the charity is able to provide support to people affected by cancer.
