Midlands Air Ambulance Charity to debut deeply moving Garden at BBC Gardeners' World Live 2025
Midlands Air Ambulance Charity is preparing to reveal a profoundly touching show garden at BBC Gardeners' World Live in June 2025.
The charity's Medicinal Garden is designed as a living homage to the lifesaving work of the charity and its positive influence on patients' recovery, making it more than just a source of horticultural inspiration.
The garden will be showcased at BBC Gardeners' World Live 2025, scheduled to take place at the NEC in Birmingham from June 12-15. It has been designed by Lucy Chapman and Helen Swan, and will be constructed by renowned Pershore-based landscaper Rupert Keys.
Emma Gray, Chief Operating Officer for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, expressed her pride in being part of BBC Gardeners' World Live this year and is looking forward to welcoming visitors and supporters in June.
The charity is most recognised for providing treatment through their rapid response helicopters and critical care cars. This is why, Emma explains, their Medicinal Garden emphasises emotional recovery.
"Our Medicinal Garden places emotional recovery at its heart, acknowledging that for many patients, survivors, families, and crew, the impact trauma and medical emergencies have on patients,' she said.
"The garden was never just about beauty," added co-designer Helen Swan. "It's about honesty. We have created a space that acknowledges patients' trauma, yet also reflects the strength that can be drawn from life-changing experiences and the role nature can play in rebuilding lives. "
"People often underestimate how healing it can be to simply sit among trees and feel the sun warming a bench. After trauma, that connection with the outdoors can be transformational."
Visitors to the eagerly awaited BBC Gardeners' World Live event, which draws in over 90,000 attendees, will be welcomed into the immersive show garden. They'll follow a winding path that gently slices between two rising mounds, symbolising the journey from crisis to tranquillity.
Seating areas situated at the heart of the journey provide spots for visitors to pause and reflect. Native trees border the garden, filtering views and offering a sense of protection and perspective.
Lucy Chapman, a fellow designer, commented: "For us, the garden reflects not just Midlands Air Ambulance Charity's emergency response, but our understanding of the emotional recovery that follows.
"The feedback we hear from those the service has helped is often about small things, being able to walk again, hear birdsong, and feel rooted in life once more. The garden embodies this."
After its debut at BBC Gardeners' World Live 2025, parts of the garden will be permanently moved to Midlands Air Ambulance Charity's airbase and charity headquarters in Shifnal, Shropshire at a later date.
To support the charity's lifesaving work or learn more, visit midlandsairambulance.com, or join the conversation by following the charity on social media.
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