Ian Piper faced one of the saddest situations in life, the death of his baby grandson Otis. Otis died aged just 7 weeks. He and his family were greatly helped by Rainbows Children’s Hospice in Leicestershire. I met Ian while I was giving a talk to a garden club, and Ian told me of his fund-raising activities for Rainbows. I’m sharing his story here as I feel we all need inspiring people at the moment. Ian and his endeavours remind me there are wonderful people in this world doing good things and helping others. Here’s Ian’s story, in his own words.
“Five and a half years ago our first grandson died at Rainbows when he was seven weeks old. The support and kindness provided inspired us to see if we could help in any way. We especially loved the remembrance garden. Otis’s name was engraved on a glass leaf and displayed on the memorial tree in the centre of the garden.
“The opportunity for us to start fundraising happened when we had a glut of pumpkins on my allotment in October 2021. As we are not permitted to sell allotment produce, my wife, Jayne, suggested that we could put them at the end of the drive of our house and ask for donations which would go directly to Rainbows. It proved to be surprisingly successful, so we decided we would continue with other surplus produce from the plot. In the spring of 2022 and all through the growing season that year we continued to raise funds from produce. I said to Jayne that it would be wonderful if we could raise £1000 by the end of the year. She was doubtful and I tended to agree.
“What we didn’t anticipate was that the lovely people of Ravenshead would take on board what we were doing as enthusiastically as they did. Not only that but the other plotholders of the allotments where mine is located also became involved. By the end of 2022 we did pass the £1000 mark.
“As a result I kept the Ravenshead Facebook pages updated with how things were progressing. To our surprise and delight, things snowballed. Other plotholders offered extra produce and brought it for me to put out. Not only that, but many of the village residents started to bring surplus vegetable plants, plus both indoor and outdoor plants, fruit and produce from their own gardens too. On occasion we looked a little like a mini garden centre!
“As I moderate one of the Ravenshead Facebook pages I began to photograph what was available and post it on not only that page but the other Ravenshead pages too. It has allowed us to continue fundraising and in addition we are having really lovely conversations with many residents that we would not normally have met. We see people now driving past most days to see what there is available- sometimes even before I have had the chance to post on the page. Currently the total that we have managed to raise thanks to the generosity of people who have donated is around £4300. Our next target is £5000 which we should hopefully achieve by the summer, fingers crossed!
“It has been really wonderful to think that we are helping Rainbows in a small way as a thank you for how kind they were when we needed them.
“We will certainly be continuing to raise as much in funds as we possibly can for as long as we can. I must thank Jayne for having the original inspiration in the first instance.
“It just shows that a germ of an idea no matter how small can prove to be so worthwhile. I would strongly urge anyone to try and engage their local community in any way possible. It’s surprising how supportive people can be. Rainbows is the most wonderful facility for families with children with life-limiting conditions and any contribution, no matter how small, can make a huge difference.”
Thank you for reading my blog. I wrote about Rainbows hospice here:
https://bramblegarden.com/2018/07/22/we-made-a-garden-for-rainbows-hospice-belvoir-show-2018/
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Now for the ‘blue’ photos this week. I’ve chosen morning glory, Ipomoea purpurea. This is a seedling from a selection I’ve grown for years. Morning glory is an annual climber reaching 4-5m given a warm sunny fence or wall. Mine grow up through my climbing French beans. I’m hoping the flowers will attract pollinators which will benefit my vegetables. You can see the nectar guides in this photo. Flowers have visible and UV guides or lines directing bees to the nectary. Sunshine has highlighted the lines. It’s almost mesmerising. I save my seed each summer and store it in a cool, dark place over winter. I’ll start them off again in 3″ pots on the kitchen windowsill in February. Recommended varieties include Star of Yelta, Grandpa Ott and Heavenly Blue. All easy to grow, and once you’ve bought a packet of seed, you’ll have morning glory for ever more. Such a lovely thought!
My cut flower tulips are in bud. Tulips in the sunny front garden are already flowering early. I’ll cut a huge bunch of daffodils and tulips for the front windows. Vases of flowers will cheer up anyone passing by, even though they can’t call in to visit.
The horseshoe pond can viewed from the potting shed windows. There’s a gently-sloping boulder beach to stand on, and this gives easy access for hedgehogs, frogs, newts and grass snakes. It’s very calming to stand and watch the ripples from raindrops. Today the pond is a cauldron of frogs, mating and producing frog spawn.
And yet, there is a glimmer of hope. Nature always supplies something to hearten, even something small and relatively insignificant. I find rosehips in abundance. Glowing red and spangled with raindrops. Food for the birds. I care about the birds and their survival, and am glad to see the rosehips and hedges full of hawthorn berries.
Paradise Regained Garden 