The Colegrave Seabrook Foundation will be launching a new initiative at the Garden Press Event aimed at growing an inspirational and educational tool that will provide students with insights into the multi-faceted career opportunities available within the horticultural profession.

“Assistance with work placements, internships and industry knowledge and contacts is becoming an increasingly important aspect of what we do along with educating people of the avenues that are open to them to build a career in horticulture,”  said Foundation Trustee Neil Gow. 

“At this year’s Garden Press Event we will also launch the new, hardy, scented Nemesia Melody series from which the family breeding company Kerley & Co from Cambridgeshire are kindly donating half of their income to the Foundation. The Melody Nemesia  follows Erysium Sugar Rush from Ball Horticulture, the range of Orchids for the home by Garden Centre Fresh and the summer bedding plant  Begonia Sweet Spice all of which,  as great plants, have been a successful funding stream for the charity . 

“A proportion of the funds we raise come from the support we enjoy from plant breeders and growers. The Foundation is reliant on individuals and companies within the horticultural and garden retail sectors for the funding it channels towards students by way of scholarships and bursaries. We thank them all for their support.”

Scholarships are often sponsored by supporters of the Foundations work and include the likes of Ball Horticulture, Majestic Trees, Smart Garden Products, The Worshipful Company of Gardeners and Blue Diamond Garden Centres.

The Foundations Chair of Trustees, Jeff Colegrave commented: “We continue our ambitious and successful fundraising drive and through initiatives such as our Named Fund, it is now bearing fruit which will allow us, this spring, to be in a position to award more scholarships, and of a greater value, than ever before. The more money we raise, the more we can do to encourage horticulture as a career choice.  Our work is only possible thanks to the support we receive from all those organisations who support the what we do. It’s not just about making a contribution, it’s about making a difference.”

Visitors to the Garden Press Event, being held at the Design Centre London on February 21 will also be able to see (and smell!) the new Nemesia Melody and hear from Trustees of the initiatives from the Foundation to persuade others including careers advisors, teachers and parents, as well as students themselves, how horticulture can be the profession for young people to grow into as a career that covers so many branches.