Exhibitors
Back-to-back Gardens
Finchale Training College
The Energy Oasis
Designers: Gary Hillery & Ken Walton
Sponsor: Finchale Training College
Contractor: Finchale Training College
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The theme of this garden is reclamation and rebirth through renewable energy. Finchale College is a vocational rehabilitation college for adults with disabilities. It takes people who have often been excluded from traditional training and transforms them into fully functioning members of society, by restoring their damaged psyches through a holistic approach to training. As such, it represents an oasis of calm reflection in the students’ often traumatic lives.
The garden uses mirrors which represent the reflection necessary to reveal the students’ hidden depths, the water symbolises the healing quality of hope in a desert of despair, and the plants signify the beauty of sustainable growth through endeavour. The planting of these perennials signifies a bright, long-lasting future for the students.
The solar panels show the hidden energy available in times of crisis, and the seating area represents the college staff, a haven of support. The garden depicts the recycling of the students as their self-respect is reclaimed, resulting in rebirth and a new beginning.