NATURE MEETS EMERGENCY MEDICINE:


THOUSANDS CONNECT WITH MIDLANDS AIR AMBULANCE CHARITY’S GROUNDBREAKING SHOW GARDEN


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Emotional visitor reactions and national interest fol- low the debut of Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s first-ever show garden at BBC Gardeners’ World Live 2025.


A trauma response isn’t something you expect to see interpreted through plants, yet that’s exactly what drew thousands of people


to Midlands Air Ambulance


Charity’s powerful Medicinal Garden at BBC Gardeners’ World Live 2025.


Over four days, between 12th and 15th June, the garden became one of the show’s most talked-about features, not just for its strik ing landforms and colour palette, but for its emotional impact.


medical emergency through to recovery,


Inspired by the journey of the space


offered visitors a rare opportunity to reflect on the quiet resilience of both patients and the crews who save them.


Emma Gray, chief operating officer for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, said: “People didn’t just walk through it, they stopped, they paused, and many shared their own stories. The garden opened up conversations around trauma, recovery and the hidden emotional journey that follows a medical emergency. It resonated in a way we couldn’t have predicted.”


Created by emerging design talents Lucy Chapman and Helen Swan, and built by Ruper t Keys and the team at TASK Academy, the Medicinal Garden avoided traditional garden show tropes in favour of something more visceral. Twin mounds of land rose on either side of a winding path, symbolising the peaks and valleys of crisis and healing. Throughout, ribbons of vibrant planting, chosen for their association with healing, r ippled across the space.


“We weren’t interested in creating something purely pretty,” said co-designer Lucy Chapman. “We wanted to make people feel something, to show that gardens can be places of deep emotional processing, not just aesthetic appreciation.”


The garden also took a strong stance on sustainability, using permeable mater ials, drought-resilient planting, and reclaimed elements to promote eco-conscious gardening that still delivers emotional depth and visual impact.


Now, the Medicinal Garden is set to live on beyond the show. Key elements will be relocated to Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s new airbase and headquarters in Shifnal, Shropshire, where the space will become a permanent place for reflection,


for patients, their


families, and the crews who have experienced emergency situations first-hand.


Lucy, added: “This garden was built to move, not just physically, but emotionally. Its next chapter will allow people who have lived through trauma to reconnect with nature, and with themselves. We’re incredibly proud to have played a part in that.”


Midlands Air Ambulance Charity provides cr itical care across six Midlands counties and is one of the UK’s busiest air ambulance operators. Its appearance at BBC Gardeners’ World Live marked a bold new direction for the charity, one that blends art, health, and the natural wor ld to raise awareness of the unseen emotional aftermath of trauma.


To find out more or support the charity’s vital work, visit midlandsairambulance.com.


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CHARIT Y MIDL AND S AIR AMB ULANC E


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