Westland Horticulture, one of the best know names in the garden retail industry, has brands dedicated to empowering everyone with the skills, knowledge, and tools for gardening success.

Their dedication, aimed towards domestic gardeners, also extends to the professional horticultural industry through Westland’s association with the Colegrave Seabrook Foundation, the charity committed to supporting students working towards a career in the industry.

Westland Horticulture have been supporting the work of the Foundation for many years and in many ways, including sponsoring the podcast Cultivate Your Future. In recognition of this ongoing and substantial support, the Foundation has awarded Westland Horticulture with a ‘Named Fund’. Chair of Trustees for the Foundation, Stuart Lowen presented Edward Conroy, Westland CEO with a certificate to mark the occasion at this year’s Glee exhibition.

Edward Conroy said, at the time of the presentation: “This is marvellous, we at Westland are really pleased to support the great work that the Foundation does. Our industry needs good people who are well trained to drive our sector forward and investing some of our resource in everybody’s future is essential.”

‘Named Funds’ is one of the ways individuals and companies can support the Foundation, who provide scholarships to students studying horticulture. Another is where retailers can sell plants which contain a royalty to the Foundation, such as the rose Peters’ s Persica which is grown and supplied by Wharton’s Roses, or Petunia Tumbelina ‘Nicola’ bred by Kerley & Co at Cambridge and the Marigold Glow Up series of seed grown African type marigolds from ProVeg, which have proved to have outstanding garden performance.

Keith Nicholson, Marketing Director at Westland Horticulture, continued: “At Westland, we are proud to invest in the future.  We recognise our responsibility in nurturing talented and passionate individuals and helping to promote the wealth of fantastic career opportunities in the horticulture and gardening industry.  Westland has always been forward-thinking, and it feels only natural to help young people grow their talents which will, in turn, help us to shape the future of our industry. We are therefore proud to support the outstanding work that the Colegrave Seabrook Foundation is undertaking to support students studying horticulture.”

You can find full details of the Colegrave Seabrook Foundation on their website, www.colegraveseabrookfoundation.org.uk  including information on scholarships and how you can help fund their work.