In what will be one of her most personal and emotive projects to date, award-winning garden designer and TV presenter Arit Anderson will design the Parkinson’s UK – A Garden for Every Parkinson’s Journey at RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May 2026, sponsored by grant-giving charity Project Giving Back.
This Show Garden will mark the first time one of Arit’s designs has been judged at RHS Chelsea. It will hold a deep personal significance, as Arit’s sister lives with Parkinson’s and her late uncle also had the condition.
Arit hopes the garden will help raise awareness of Parkinson’s and the vital work of Parkinson’s UK in funding research and supporting people with the condition. She also wants it to celebrate the restorative power of green spaces in supporting and energising those living with the complex neurological condition, which has more than 40 symptoms ranging from tremor and pain to fatigue and anxiety.
A garden inspired by lived experience
The garden’s joyful and inclusive design was inspired by a creative workshop where Arit and the Parkinson’s UK team brought together gardeners living with Parkinson’s and their loved ones.
Workshop participants shared their vision of a garden that offers ease of access, interest throughout the day and night, and a place of sanctuary to engage all the senses. Bold and vibrant planting offers visual cues, along with calmer and more tranquil spaces for rest and reflection. Ultimately, the garden aims to be a beautiful, harmonious environment for both people and wildlife.
Speaking about the garden, Arit said:
“This is a very special project, and I’m delighted to have been asked to create this garden for Parkinson’s UK – a charity that means so much to me and my family. Despite the growing number of people diagnosed with Parkinson’s each year in the UK, the condition is still not well understood. I hope this garden will help change that.”
“It’s also going to be quite a role reversal for me at RHS Chelsea next May. After years presenting and critiquing other designers’ gardens on BBC coverage, I’ll be the one under the judges’ gaze! It’s daunting, but I’m excited to take on the challenge and to create something meaningful that will make a lasting difference to those affected by Parkinson’s.”
A lasting legacy
Parkinson’s UK – A Garden for Every Parkinson’s Journey has been made possible by the generosity of Project Giving Back, a unique grant-making charity that funds gardens for good causes. Project Giving Back will fund 11 gardens at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026, bringing the total number of gardens it has supported to 63 over five years.
Following RHS Chelsea, the garden will be relocated to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, a Parkinson’s Centre of Excellence, where it will become the first permanent Parkinson’s UK Garden. This ensures that the Parkinson’s community can continue to enjoy and benefit from its lasting legacy.
Speaking about the charity’s first ever Show Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Caroline Rassell, Chief Executive at Parkinson’s UK, said:
“We’re thrilled to be working with Arit Anderson on the garden and incredibly grateful to Project Giving Back for gifting this extraordinary project to the charity. The garden offers a unique chance to deepen understanding of Parkinson’s, and inspire the whole Parkinson’s community to feel the benefits of gardening. Having the garden relocated to its permanent home at John Radcliffe Hospital will mean it continues to bring hope, joy and support, long after RHS Chelsea.”
For information and support, visit parkinsons.org.uk or call the charity’s free, confidential helpline on 0808 800 0303.
About Arit Anderson
Arit Anderson is a garden designer, writer and presenter on BBC Two’s Gardeners’ World.
Arit enrolled to study gardening at Capel Manor College, where her collaboration with two other students won the Fresh Talent category at RHS Chelsea 2013. After being awarded a diploma in garden design, Arit designed and delivered her own show garden that won a Gold Medal in the Conceptual category at RHS Hampton Court in 2016. She has since been commissioned by the RHS to design feature gardens at both RHS Chelsea and RHS Hampton Court.
Arit is a trustee for the National Garden Scheme and Ambassador for the RHS Planet-Friendly Gardening Campaign. She promotes community gardening and is passionate about the role gardens play in human well-being.
Working as a presenter for Gardeners’ World and writing for national publications has enabled Arit to publicise issues about the future of gardening in an ever-changing climate, and to promote solutions to the wider public.
About Parkinson’s and Parkinson’s UK
Parkinson’s is a complex brain condition that has no cure and gets worse over time. It has more than 40 symptoms, from tremor and pain to anxiety. Parkinson’s is on the rise. Someone is diagnosed every 20 minutes in the UK today. By 2050, the number of people with Parkinson’s worldwide will double to 25 million.
Parkinson’s UK is the charity that supports every Parkinson’s journey, every step of the way. Wherever you’re from, whatever you need – from searching for a cure and campaigning for better health and care, to funding research into groundbreaking new treatments and running life-changing support services – it’s all driven by one mission: improving life with Parkinson’s.
See more facts and statistics on the Parkinson’s UK website. For information and support, visit parkinsons.org.uk or call the free, confidential helpline on 0808 800 0303.
About Project Giving Back
Project Giving Back (PGB) is a unique grant-making charity that provides funding for gardens for good causes at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. PGB was launched in May 2021 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its devastating effects on UK charitable fundraising — effects that have since been exacerbated by the cost of living crisis.
PGB will fund 11 gardens at RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2026 and will have funded a total of 63 gardens inspired by a range of good causes from 2022 to 2026. PGB funding offers UK-based good causes an opportunity to raise awareness of their work at the high-profile RHS Chelsea Flower Show, as well as supporting the relocation of the gardens to permanent homes after the show where they can continue to benefit the charities and their communities.
Find out more at www.givingback.org.uk.
Source janesouthcottpr.co.uk
