David Austin has joined forces with iconic British pottery brand, Emma Bridgewater to design a mug honouring its joyful Bring Me Sunshine (Ausernie) English rose. The partnership supports the National Garden Scheme charity that sees a £5 donation being made with each mug sold.

Chosen because of its mood-boosting apricot and golden yellow colouring that translates beautifully onto pottery, the Bring Me Sunshine Half-Pint mug is an exclusive creation that celebrates great British craftsmanship and the country’s many glorious gardens.

It will be available to purchase directly from Emma Bridgewater, David Austin Roses or as part of David Austin’s new gift box that comes with the mug, a National Garden Scheme A5 notebook and a voucher for any David Austin rose, with Emma Bridgewater directly donating £5 to the National Garden Scheme for every mug sold.

Additionally, David Austin has announced another first for the same charitable cause. In a one-weekend-only event on 15th and 16th June 2024, it will open the gate to the private gardens of Mr Austin Senior’s red brick farmhouse home in Shropshire. The ticketed event will see £10,000 of proceeds donated to the National Garden Scheme with tickets available here.

“As huge admirers of Emma Bridgewater’s work, we’re thrilled to not only see one of our most popular roses adorned onto the mugs but also dovetail our efforts, to support a charity that we each value greatly,” said David Austin.

With over 3,500 mesmerising gardens across the UK, the National Garden Scheme welcomes garden enthusiasts into the most special and lovingly tended private gardens and raises funds for vital health charities such as Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie and Parkinson’s UK with over £3.4 million donated in 2023 alone.

“I believe that David named this rose for his late father,” said Emma Bridgewater.  “My Dad died in December 2023, and he too loved Morecambe and Wise, which I regularly watched with him as a child. They were anarchic in a gentle way but I didn’t appreciate the subtleties, instead I remember loving it when my father relaxed and laughed with Eric and Ernie, without needing to follow or comprehend all that they were up to.   

“And so I empathise with the impulse that prompted David to name this glorious golden rose after a song which is forever associated for him and for so many of us with the sound of happy fathers, laughing.”