Can you spare a few hours to plant bulbs in Horsham Park? Horsham and Crawley Samaritans, Friends of Horsham Park and Horsham District Council are appealing for help with Bulbs for Lives, a new project to plant thousands of spring bulbs to mark Horsham and Crawley Samaritans’ 50 years at their current base in Denne Road, Horsham town centre.
The bulb planting is taking place over the weekend of 22-23 October and volunteers are asked to come along for a two-hour shift on either or both days. The goal is to have 6221 mixed crocus and 6221 narcissus flowering in succession in the Park next spring: 6221 being the number of people who took their own lives in the UK in 2021.
If you’d like to help, please register online.
The bulbs will be planted in a marked-out area close to the Human Nature Garden. Volunteers will be given a square metre to plant, with full briefing and tools provided – so bulb planting novices are as welcome as more experienced gardeners.
Sally Sanderson, Chair of Friends of Horsham Park, said: “Planting close to 12,500 bulbs in two days is quite a challenge, but we’re hoping that Horsham residents will step up and help to create this beautiful carpet of spring flowers that enhances our Park.
Just as importantly, it will acknowledge the invaluable work that Samaritans do, listening to people when they need someone, with the ultimate aim of reducing the number of those who take their own lives.
Commenting on the event Horsham District Council Cabinet Member for Leisure and Culture Cllr Roger Noel said:
The spring bulb planting in Horsham Park is set to be a really lovely event and a good way for people to do something positive for our community.
Not only will it create a beautiful display for many years to come, but it is also a very fitting way to mark the amazing work of our local branch of the Samaritans.
I will be in the Park on Saturday 22 October along with other colleagues to plant my allocation of the 12,442 bulbs, and I would encourage many others to do the same.
Please help us pay an amazing tribute to these needlessly lost lives.