In conversation with Raymond Blanc at Chelsea 2020
Find out more about the journey of the ‘Giving Girls in Africa a Space to Grow’ Garden on Thursday, 21 May, at Jardin Blanc
The Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) African Garden, which debuted at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, has now been installed at the Eden Project in Cornwall. Around 1,000 of the Garden’s tropical plants were originally grown at the Eden Project, home to the famous climatic biomes, before being transported to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show – Jardin Blanc was honoured to have some of these plants make their way into our magical garden.
Raymond Blanc also visited the CAMFED Garden, meeting with leading London-based garden designer, Jilayne Rickards, and representatives from CAMFED Zimbabwe. The garden attracted a great deal of attention, not only winning a gold medal but also the coveted BBC/RHS People’s Choice Award in the ‘Space to Grow’ category.
The Garden tells the story of how CAMFED supports the most excluded girls and young women in rural sub-Saharan Africa to go to school, succeed, and become leaders and change-makers in their communities, including in climate-smart agriculture. It is often the poorest, most rural communities which are most affected by climate change, yet are the least culpable. Through its #SeeGrowth campaign, CAMFED is raising awareness of these issues and the solutions, led by young educated women — women like Beauty Gombana, who inspired Jilayne to create the Garden. Beauty’s climate-smart agricultural enterprise in rural Zimbabwe nourishes her school community, provides local employment, and is used as a demonstration farm for climate-smart, sustainable growing techniques.
The Jardin Blanc team are delighted that the leadership of the women in the CAMFED Association (CAMA), of which Beauty is a member, has just been recognised with a UN Global Climate Action Award in the “Women for Results” category for effective and scalable solutions.
If you would like to hear more from the 2019 Gold Medal winner and the RHS 2019 People’s Choice Award winners, and discover Jilayne’s journey to creating the ‘Giving Girls in Africa a Space to Grow’ garden, join Jilayne and CAMFED in conversation, at Jardin Blanc, on Thursday 21 May 2020.
Jardin Blanc offers official hospitality at RHS Chelsea Flower Show; with menus designed by Jardin Blanc’s Chef Director, Raymond Blanc OBE, this magical place has its roots in our quest to create an experience befitting of the most prestigious flower show in the world.
To join Jilayne Rickards and CAMFED in conversation, and to find out more about Jardin Blanc, please visit here