The Key echoes the life journeys that many of the people who grew and planted it are making. It reveals exclusion, choices, fortune, despair, hope, humanity and achievement. The Key is not a garden for passing by; it is a story of our society and our part in it.
The people the Eden Project worked with to create The Key have overcome significant challenges including poverty, exclusion, poor skills and a lack of formal qualifications and opportunity. The aim of The Key is to show that change is possible.
The Key was designed by Paul Stone, the Eden Project's Hard Landscape Manager, in conjunction with Architecture sans Frontieres UK. Paul said that the sheer scale and ambition of The Key represented his biggest challenge yet.
Many people currently using homelessness services have been involved in growing and caring for the huge quantity of plants required to make the unique garden. They have also helped to plant and build the garden and are providing hospitality during the show. A small number of prisons have also been involved with a poem by ex-prisoner turned poet, playwright and artist Dean Stalham gracing the large blocks in the garden.
After all of the hard work, The Key won silver at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
Visit www.keygarden.com for more details.