Forever Flowers

Outside the rose garden. Photo: Izzie Addison

Peonies line the path up to the 'remembrance tree'. Photo: Izzie Addison

Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity, Buckinghamshire, partnered with Waddesdon Manor this spring to create a display of 1,200 bespoke metal pink peonies to celebrate and remember loved ones.

The project, called Forever Flowers, gave families across the county the opportunity to dedicate a flower to a loved one, attend a private viewing of the display on 28 April, and take their hand-crafted peony home once the display wrapped up on 18 May.

The project is in its fourth year, with this year’s display featuring the largest number of flowers to date, all dotted around Waddesdon Manor’s rose garden.

The charity’s community and events fundraising manager Lyn Denham, and administrative assistant Jacqueline Parry, both attended the private viewing for supporters, where they saw the display's impact first-hand.

“It was very impactful this year. It was really quite uplifting,” Lyn said. “It was really nice to turn around and see so many people not afraid to cry and be sad in that environment - people really took comfort in that.

“Everyone I spoke to was very comforted by the experience and by being able to show that emotion.”

“People were overwhelmed by how beautiful it was,” Jacqueline added. “It was peaceful. And a lot of them said the staff and volunteers were so helpful.”

The staff and volunteers were on hand during the day to help with everything from bereavement support to helping supporters to locate their loved one’s peony within the
display.

Plaques were added beside each peony to show who each flower was in memory of.

It all formed part of the effort to make this year’s experience “much more personal”, Jacqueline said.

Another feature of this year’s display was a ‘remembrance tree’ in the centre of the rose garden, which had special messages to loved ones attached with ribbons, floating in the breeze.

Messages to lost loved ones on the 'remembrance tree'. Photo: Izzie Addison

The remembrance tree was new for this year, Jacqueline said: “and people just really, really liked that”.

Lyn said that as well as providing a space for families to reflect, she hoped the display would raise awareness of Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity.

“There’s not a great understanding of hospice care in general,” she said. “People don’t talk about it, and they automatically think it is government-funded. It is quite a lot for people to understand how hospice care works.”

Supporters were encouraged to make a suggested donation of £35 to reserve a peony, which goes towards funding the charity’s services - crucial to sustaining them.

“Without charity support, a lot of services that we have in our community would not be here,” Lyn said.

Florence Nightingale Hospices cares for and supports those with life-limiting illnesses and their families, with an inpatient unit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, a day hospice, a Lymphoedema clinic, and an at-home care team among the services they provide.

Some services are supported by charity fundraising, including one that Marketing Manager Zoe Brown believes people may be surprised to hear is available in some of their high street charity shops.

Peonies in the rose garden. Photo: Izzie Addison

Peonies in the rose garden. Photo: Izzie Addison

“We have a bereavement listening service which offers bereavement support and diagnosis support for families and patients,” she said. “The service is partly delivered by paid staff at the hospice, but we also have a lot of trained volunteers who offer that service in the community as well.

“We offer those sessions in our head office in Aylesbury, but we also have three bereavement listening spaces in our shops as well, in Hazlemere, Princes Risborough, and in our Gatehouse Way store in Aylesbury.

“I don’t think many charities as a whole offer that, so it’s quite unique.”

Lyn said the service is, for some, a “lifesaver”.

Peonies in the rose garden. Photo: Izzie Addison

Now that Forever Flowers has finished, the peonies will be cleaned and returned to those who have dedicated them to a loved one.

Having something tangible for families to take away with them is an important part of the project, Lyn believes: “Some people feel guilt about just carrying on with their everyday lives. But taking a moment, and having something that reminds them of that person - people take such automatic comfort from that, and I think it is really important.”

Peggy Fuller, 83, dedicated her peony to her late husband, Brian Fuller, who received care from the hospice charity before he died at the age of 81. They were married for nearly 60 years.

She described the private viewing as a “special occasion”.

“I just think it’s just lovely thing to do,” she said.

Peggy praised the hospice charity’s team for how well they cared for her husband, describing them as “absolutely wonderful”.

“They treated him with such dignity,” she said. “They were just so caring, I can’t speak highly enough of them.”

“He felt so relaxed with them. There was no side to them. They were just caring.

“I think you’ve got to be a very special person to do something like that.”

Peggy reserved three peonies - one for herself, and one for each of her sons, one of whom lives in New Zealand.

“It is a way of remembering him,” she said. “I’ve got the red rose [last year's 'forever flower'] in my lounge too.”

Peonies line the path up to a bench in the rose garden. Photo: Izzie Addison

Jacqueline said it’s not uncommon for supporters to take part in the Forever Flowers project year after year.

“The people who come back each year know that is something that they can do every year now,” she said.

In this way, events like Forever Flowers help to create a community of people who can come together to reflect, remember and reminisce.

“It is like a family,” Lyn said.