Birmingham Botanical Gardens are hosting a spectacular evening of entertainment at The Secret Garden Ball, raising money for the Gardens and blood cancer research charity Bloodwise, with guest speaker Bob Flowerdew.
On Friday 11 May at Birmingham Botanical Gardens, upon arrival, guests will be welcomed with a glass of fizz, before enjoying a delicious three-course meal. Following this, they will have live music from the fantastic band, Spectrum, helping you to dance the night away with a mixture of contemporary and classic hits. As well as this, there will be an auction, where you could win some fabulous prizes. You’ll even be able to purchase some secret garden keys that unlock even more incredible goodies.
They will then have a fantastic after dinner talk from gardening expert Bob Flowerdew, which will be a humorous examination of the foolishness of often repeated horticultural advice that was originally valid but, has become inappropriate for today’s gardeners. He will be showcasing his unique knowledge and sharing gardening advice, as well as helping attendees with gardening woes by answering questions.
A self-confessed lover of gardening, scented plants, prolific writer and successful inventor, Bob was previously a presenter for BBC2’s Gardener’s World as their organic fruit and vegetable expert under Geoff Hamilton. He is now on the panel for Gardener’s Question Time where he concentrates on fruits, vegetables, organic methods and scented plants. He also writes for journals at home and abroad, particularly Amateur Gardening, Kitchen Garden Magazine and BBC Gardeners World Magazine.
Bob Flowerdew said, ‘I’m pleased and honoured to be the first speaker at such a prestigious and worthy event at one of the countries best botanical gardens’.
James Wheeler, CEO of Birmingham Botanical Gardens, said: “We are thrilled to be launching our very first Botanic Garden Ball in partnership with Bloodwise. The money raised will help the work we do at the Gardens, but will also go towards making patients’ lives better, and looking for ways to stop blood cancer happening in the first place. We are also delighted that Bob Flowerdew will be entertaining us with one of his incredibly insightful and enjoyable talks. At the Gardens, we strive to answer visitors queries and questions with our own knowledge, as we are very keen for people to get back into gardening or take it up for the first time. Bob shares this passion and his expertise make him the perfect speaker for this debut. The Ball is an important part of our ongoing fundraising initiative; we rely on events such as this to bring in vital funds to the gardens which receives no financial support from external bodies.”
As well as supporting Birmingham Botanical Gardens, money raised from the event will also be invested in research into blood cancers such as leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Birmingham is central to the life-saving work carried out by Bloodwise, with £16million invested by the charity in 32 different blood cancer research projects and clinical drugs trials in the city, which help speed up access to new treatments for patients with the disease.
Myles Broadhurst, now ten-years-old, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in April 2014, then just six years old, and underwent treatment at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. Myles’ mum, Ann-Marie, says: “He lost his hair and the ability to bear any weight on his legs. Seeing your child go through so many traumas at such a young age is harrowing. Thankfully, his cancer finally went into remission and the intense phase of treatment was complete. Myles’ journey was far from over, though, as he then faced three years of maintenance treatment, completing this in October 2017.”
Emma Jane Jones, Regional Manager for Bloodwise said, “Although great progress has been made in survival rates for childhood leukaemia compared to 20 years ago, treatment is incredibly harsh and there are still many long-term side effects. Funding research is the only way to find more effective treatments, and a lot of this ground-breaking work is taking place right here in Birmingham, which is really exciting.”
We are delighted to be working in partnership with this prestigious organisation, in a city that holds great significance to our work in blood cancer research. The disease kills more people annually than breast or prostate cancer, so events like the Secret Garden Ball not only offer a fun evening of entertainment for guests, but are vital in ensuring we can continue to invest in this life-saving research, and provide patient support services for the 39,000 people diagnosed every year.”
The event will begin at 7.00pm.
Tickets are £55.00 for one and £500.00 for a table of 10.
Early bird tickets are: £450.00 for a table of 10 and will only be available for a limited period. For individual Early Bird Tickets please contact either [email protected]/ www.bloodwise.org.uk/botanic-ball or 0121 454 1860
