Teapot Trust’s Elsewhere Garden, designed by Semple Begg, won GOLD at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023. Made possible by a generous grant from Project Giving Back and designed by the widely respected garden design firm Semple Begg, the publicity raised will help us to build capacity so we can meet the needs of many more children, young people and their families through impactful art therapy.

This autumn, the garden will be relocated to its permanent home at Glasgow’s Royal Hospital for Children where Teapot Trust has been working in partnership to support families in need over the last decade.

Our Vision

Teapot Trust has a vision where all children and young people who live with chronic health conditions can access transformative art therapy without barriers and without cost.

1 in 4 children and young people in the UK live with the pain and stigma of chronic health conditions that cause anxiety and depression. Almost a third of those aged under 21 who take their own lives have a long-term chronic illness. Typically, young patients with chronic conditions need regular invasive tests, injections and treatments. They often feel misunderstood, saying others don’t believe they’re in pain because their condition is “invisible”.

Through the gentle process of art therapy, Teapot Trust supports them to express and process their feelings about their diagnosis, their treatment regime, and how this affects them day-to-day. Through transformative art therapy they find effective coping tools which builds their resilience, with 92% reporting to have made progress towards their goals and no longer feeling defined by their condition.

With such a widespread need, it is only fitting that we strive to increase awareness about the link between physical and mental health on a national platform. Through the Teapot Trust Elsewhere Garden, we intend to utilise this opportunity to maximise awareness and bring growth so we can meet the needs of many more children living with painful chronic health conditions now and in the future.

The Elsewhere Garden, Illustrated by Sandra Dieckmann

The Garden

Teapot Trust’s Elsewhere Garden guides children and young people living with the pain and stigma of a chronic health condition to a safe space where their minds go ‘elsewhere’. 

Susan Begg of Semple Begg said: “Teapot Trust Elsewhere Garden represents a child’s imagination as it blossoms in response to the freedom gifted by art therapy. Through this escape into art, children find coping strategies to deal with life.”

Nicola Semple of Semple Begg added: “For inspiration, we looked to Willy Wonka's factory, to Oz and Wonderland. Where colour is vivid and exuberant, shape and form are exaggerated. And, where the inner world of a child's anxiety is expressed as an outer wonderland.”

All plants and features have been carefully chosen to help us tell our story. Visitors to the garden – and the digital experience online – will be immersed in rich and vibrant planting, sculptures, water features and references to non-verbal communication through soundscapes. Art in the garden reflects the art tools that Teapot Trust uses to take a child’s worrying thoughts ‘elsewhere’. Unusual, anthropomorphic-like trees contribute to an atmosphere of fantasy and imagination within the garden.

Key Features

Growers and Installers: Plants incorporated in the garden were grown by British nurseries including the renowned Kelway Plants, who have supplied thousands of plants for previous shows, and have enabled the winning of top medals each year. They are one of the UK’s oldest nurseries and one of only a handful of growers with the skill and experience to grow plants for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

The trees were provided by Deepdale Trees expert growers of the UK's finest semi-mature shrubs and trees, with a proud reputation of supplying the professional market and a RHS Chelsea stalwart.

Stewart Landscape Construction, winners of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show ‘Best Construction’ award in 2021, used their extensive experience to build the Teapot Trust Elsewhere Garden at Chelsea.

Photography © Andrea Jones/Garden Exposure Photo Library