Three female designers have come together to create
a show garden for the charity Wellbeing of Women at
RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show this year which
is celebrating 25 years. Claire Moreno, Amy Robertson
and Wendy Von Buren met while studying at the Garden
Design School at Painshill Park in 2012. They kept in
touch after qualifying, and after Wendy attended a
charity function hosted by the Wellbeing of Women
charity, discovered a shared passion to create an RHS
show garden with a purpose.
Previously known as Birthright, Wellbeing of Women
was founded in 1964 and has since pioneered the
research which has resulted in many of the healthcare
interventions for women which are taken for granted
today. From increasing survival rates in premature
babies and the introduction of fetal scanning in
pregnancy to the importance of folic acid, both when
planning to conceive and during pregnancy, Wellbeing
also funded the research which identified the link
between cervical cancer and the human papilloma
virus, against which teenage girls are now offered
immunisation. Wellbeing of Women has touched the
lives of millions of women with its long history of
funding ground-breaking medical research into women’s
health concerns - over the last 50 years the charity has
significantly improved the health of women and their
families. Other areas of research include pregnancy and
birth (including IVF, miscarriage and preterm birth), and
quality of life issues, such as menopause, which affect
the daily lives of women all across the UK.
Discussing the work of Wellbeing of Women, Claire,
Wendy and Amy found that they all had personal
experiences that connected them to the charity. It was
from this discussion that the idea for an RHS Hampton
Court Flower Show Garden was developed.
Landscape & Urban Design Issue 14
61