The Chelsea Flower Show Spotlights Healing Horticulture for Torture Survivors
This year’s Chelsea Flower Show will feature a garden that celebrates the therapeutic potential of horticulture for survivors of torture, while also spotlighting the efforts of a charity at the forefront of challenging government policies. The garden, one of the most politically charged to ever grace the annual event, will later be repurposed for therapy work by the human rights organization Freedom from Torture (FFT).
Designed with materials that symbolize resilience and beauty in adverse conditions, the garden aims to evoke happier memories of participants’ homelands. It features plants known for their ability to thrive in challenging environments and includes communal spaces like a bread oven to foster storytelling and community bonding.
FFT plans to leverage the garden as a platform to engage with new audiences, particularly in light of recent developments regarding deportation policies. The charity condemned a recent operation to detain asylum seekers in preparation for deportation to Rwanda.
The garden, one of 15 charity gardens at the show, emerged from a collaboration between FFT and award-winning horticultural designers John Warland and Emma O’Connell. It will also inspire a recipe book featuring contributions from torture survivors and celebrity chefs like Prue Leith, Nigel Slater, and Delia Smith.
Beyond its symbolic value, the garden will serve a practical purpose, growing edible and medicinal produce for use in FFT’s therapy programs. Survivors who contributed to the garden’s design will continue to benefit from it after its relocation.
Tanya, a Zimbabwean native and gardening group participant, highlighted the healing power of nature, which helped her navigate through challenging times.
Warland emphasized the garden’s role in evoking nostalgia and grounding survivors in happier memories, inspired by their own experiences and preferences.
Funded by Project Giving Back, an organization dedicated to supporting charitable causes, the garden will find a permanent home at FFT’s premises in North London after the Chelsea Flower Show.
