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Fundraising News
- Support from Emma Thompson and Greg Wise for the Benmore Sequoia Appeal
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‘Benmore Botanic Garden is very special place that our family has enjoyed for many years, with the most beautiful collection of plants and trees. Today, the Redwood Avenue, planted over 150 years ago is threatened and we risk losing these magnificent trees to the effects of climate change. All is not lost though, and with the help of science we can save this precious part of our natural heritage. By donating to the Benmore Avenue Project, you can help support vital horticultural interventions that will improve the health of these endangered trees, and ensure that they stand for many more centuries to come’.
Emma Thompson & Greg Wise
Donate to the Benmore Sequoia Appeal - Margaret Stevenson Legacy
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In July the Stevenson family - David, Alison, Andrew, Patrick, Ellen and Paul - met in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh to celebrate and remember the late Margaret Stevenson’s life and the great contribution she made to the Botanics over many years.
Margaret became a Garden Guide in 2006, and served on the Edinburgh Friends' Committee for many years helping to raise funds at coffee mornings, plant crèches at Gardening Scotland, and the annual Plant Sale. Indeed, she was one of the dedicated 'potters' who met regularly in the Nursery throughout the year to nurture the plants in preparation for the Sale. Margaret was very much a plants woman, and she happily shared her enthusiasm for and knowledge of plants with her fellow potters and with the many visitors to our Garden she met as a Guide.
In the words of John Mitchell, Alpine, Rock and Woodland Garden Supervisor:
“With Margaret's passing the Royal Botanic Garden has lost a valued friend and colleague. We are fortunate to have had the benefit of her experience and knowledge over many years where she effectively explored and explained the plant collection here in Edinburgh”.
Margaret's family wanted to arrange for a legacy in her name, and in collaboration with Garden staff developed and funded a New Alpine Glasshouse in the Alpine Yard which will specialise in cushion plants. There is also a bench in her memory in the upper woodland garden within the Rhododendron collection.
Both projects honour Margaret’s legacy and fittingly commemorate her love for the garden and how much she gave to it over many years. The family’s gift offers valuable support to the Botanics and gives friends, guides, volunteers and staff the opportunity to admire and to care for RBGE’s world-leading Alpine flower collection.
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is extremely grateful to the Stevenson family for their generous support and will ensure Margaret’s legacy continues to fulfil RBGE's mission statement to explore, conserve and explain the world of plants for a better future.
- D'oyly Carte Foundation supports the Demonstration Garden
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In Summer 2020 the Community Engagement Team were successful in securing a grant of £4500 from the D’oyly Carte Foundation. The grant enabled them to purchase outdoor equipment to facilitate what would usually be indoor events outside in the garden; providing shelter from the worst of the weather yet allowing for social distancing. On 3rd and 4th October three of the outdoor shelter purchased with this grant were used to facilitate harvest activities in the Demonstration Garden.
The event was a great success, with over 750 engagements with our various stalls over the weekend. On offer was a chance to ‘Meet the Gardener’ and receive tips for edible gardening in the autumn, a free seed giveaway, tasters from garden produce including apple crumble and pumpkin muffins, as well as a new event for this year: a virtual harvest produce show open to the public. Visitors submitted photos of their home-grown fruit and veg in the weeks leading up to harvest; these were displayed for the weekend and our gardeners chose well-deserving winners.
Hosting this activity inside would not have been possible given restrictions on groups meeting inside and the need for social distancing. The weather on the first day of the activity was torrential rain and therefore it would not have been possible to hold it outdoors without the protection provided by our new equipment. We’re grateful for the funding from D’oyly Carte which made our community work possible this harvest time.