Inspired by the founder and the volunteers of the Red Cross Movement, Henri Dunant, the British Red Cross ‘Here for Humanity’ Garden for the 2025 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, is a representation of their dedication to impartial and compassionate service in the UK and across the globe.
Béatrice Butsana-Sita, CEO of the British Red Cross, said: “We are delighted to have our very first garden at Chelsea Flower Show in 2025. It’s a brilliant opportunity to provide the public with a greater understanding of our lifesaving work, highlighting the importance and strength of our neutrality in an increasingly complex and polarizing world. Our garden will be one of hope and we are incredibly excited to share this with our volunteers, supporters and the public.”
Designed by RHS Gold medal winners, John Warland and Tom Bannister, the ‘Here for Humanity’ garden will be built by GK Wilson.
Design & Planting
The contemporary design of the garden showcases interlocking hexagonal columnar stone jointing, each unique in size but all fitting together seamlessly – to reference the 191 national societies of the Red Cross around the world. The modular design will also mean the garden can live on after Chelsea and continue to be used and enjoyed into the future.
A contemporary twist on an alpine garden, large stone column-like planters mimic traditional trough alpine displays, whilst areas of scree and crevice planting allow for a unique collection of plants from across the world to be displayed. This will include Alpine plants from countries around the world, including the UK, Turkiye, Morocco and Ethiopia, referencing the lifesaving work of the Red Cross in the face of disasters and emergencies. These plants represent the ability of humanity to survive and thrive in even the most extreme conditions.
The designers
Recipient of six RHS Gold medals, John Warland works to a simple manifesto to amuse, bewilder and ultimately produce works of beauty. Working in no specific studio style, the use of innovative materials and horticultural practices, he delivers quirky, and often thought-provoking spaces. Key works include exhibiting at Chaumont Festival Des Jardins and the creation of the Coronation Arch for Queen Elizabeth II on the Long Walk at Windsor Castle. In 2024, Warland teamed up with Emma O’Connell to create The Freedom from Torture Garden: A Sanctuary for Survivors Sanctuary Garden which gained an RHS Silver medal
“The British Red Cross is an organisation that deserves to tell its story. It has an incredible history which is worthy of recognition and celebration and its impact and presence in the world today, and ambition to be there for those in crisis for the next century, is beyond inspiring. It’s an honour to be trusted with the responsibility of relaying this story to the public,” said Warland.
Tom Bannister has worked in the horticulture for over two decades, from complex hard landscaping and groundwork installations to nursery management and intricate planting schemes on show gardens at RHS Malvern Spring Festival, RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival, and RHS Chelsea Flower Show. nA graduate from The London College Of Garden Design, Bannister won an RHS Gold medal and Best in Category at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024 for his Balcony, The Ecotherapy Garden.
Relocation after RHS Chelsea
After the show the garden will be relocated to the grounds of Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, South London. South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust provides the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK and the garden will be a space for patients, carers and staff to relax and enjoy the healing power of nature.
The team
- Sponsor: British Red Cross
- Designers: John Warland and Tom Bannister
- Contractor: GK Wilson
- Plants: Kevoc Nurseries (supplying alpine & rock garden plants), Wrights Landscapes (specimen trees & shrubs)