Back at work now after two hugely affirming days working on the Key Garden, I’m still basking in a warm glow from having been privileged enough to be involved with this inspirational project, even at a very late stage.
Although I’d chatted with many of the Eden team involved with this project many times over the past few months about how things were progressing and having seen the outcome on the BBC’s coverage beforehand, on arrival I was still stunned by the amazing achievement of Paul Stone, Kevin Austin and their enthusiastic helpers drawn from homeless charities and prisons all over England. The feat of coordination to pull together contributions from so many diverse sources to present a display of world-class horticulture in the ultimate garden showcase is simply awesome.
In my role of representing Eden on the garden, I initially felt a little embarrassed in accepting praise for other peoples’ hard work and inspiration, but this discomfort turned to pure pleasure in the face of such overwhelming public enthusiasm for the Key project and all it represents.
Those who know me will be aware that I’m not given much to gushing emotion, but this was something extraordinarily moving – thank you to everybody involved for making such a powerful statement about the value of investment into the lives of disadvantaged people and giving them the chance to really unlock their potential.
It’s worth it.
In spades.
Jim Dimmock – Senior Agronomist for Eden Project
(in place of Paul Stone)
