Well, that’s it then: after five high profile years, Project Giving Back (PGB) is making its final appearance at the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Since 2022 this extraordinary philanthropic organisation (personally bankrolled by two private individuals who have remained resolutely anonymous) has fully funded 63 Chelsea show gardens that publicised the work of 63 different charities, and financed the relocation of every garden to a permanent location. In the process, it delivered a much needed shot of adrenalin to this grand old institution as it struggled to regroup after the Covid catastrophe.
But as the final curtain comes down, it is worth asking what it was all for. Did PGB really make a difference to those charities, or did it just fill Main Avenue with lovely gardens? And was it really worth spending £23 million on those show gardens? Plus, of course, the undisclosed additional expenditure
on the infrastructure necessary to make that happen.
The latest news from Chelsea 2026
- RHS Chelsea Flower Show to be sponsored by Range Rover in 2026
- Big changes for RHS Flower Shows in 2026: here's what's different
- The RHS has lifted its gnome ban for Chelsea Flower Show 2026 - for one important reason
Grumbling that the money might better have gone direct to the charities, as some do, misses the point, says PGB CEO Hattie Ghaui. “Our own research suggests that our charities have directly raised £20m off the back of those gardens, so you could see a £3m shortfall, but that doesn’t factor in the ongoing benefits,” she says. “Every one of our charities gets a massive PR boost from their presence at the show, but they also tell us it is hugely energising for their volunteers. Someone from the RNLI actually said that being at Chelsea was the proudest moment of their life – and their day job is rescuing people at sea.”
PGB made relocation nonnegotiable, forced legacy and sustainability to be considered from the outset, and in doing so raised the seriousness and professionalism of the whole enterprise CHARLOTTE HARRIS
There have also been criticisms of an underlying worthiness in which every garden became a ‘journey’ from despair to joy, which Hattie acknowledges as an issue. “Charity storytelling can lean into some quite clichéd tropes, but it doesn’t have to. That RNLI garden had a great story – designer Chris Beardshaw said he used ordinary plants in combinations that made them extraordinary, in the same way that ordinary people came to the RNLI to do something extraordinary. Now that is a powerful message to get across.”
Designer Charlotte Harris of Harris Bugg Studio worked with PGB on the Horatio’s Garden that bagged the Best Show Garden prize in 2023, and is unequivocal in her support of the organisation. “PGB has had a seismic impact on Chelsea, and they deserve enormous credit for that,” she says. “They made relocation non-negotiable, forced legacy and sustainability to be considered from the outset, and in doing so raised the seriousness and professionalism of the whole enterprise. They also opened the door to a far broader range of smaller design studios, brought in new nurseries and contractors, and gave
a platform to many charities that wouldn’t otherwise have been able to sponsor a show garden.”
Because, despite regular complaints about high ticket prices and overpriced Pimm’s, the Chelsea Flower Show would not be viable without sponsorship. And, as RHS director general Clare Matterson told me recently, without the money generated by Chelsea, the RHS “wouldn’t have the money to do everything else, including our outreach programmes, educational offering and science research”.
Although the RHS stages the show, each show garden is paid for by an individual sponsor, either corporate or charitable, hoping to use the public spotlight to convey a message about their organisation. The many commercial stands have to meet stringent RHS requirements, but they are essentially paying
handsomely to put up a market stall at the show.
And then there are other sponsors, including law firm Addleshaw Goddard, Champagne Pommery and skincare brand Weleda, who help bankroll the event as a whole. Luxury hotel The Newt in Somerset was the headline sponsor from 2022 to 2025, but that financial support ended before a successor was in place.
Discover more about the gardens at Chelsea 2026
- First details of the gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show 2026: discover who is designing what
- RHS announces five All About Plants gardens for Chelsea Flower Show 2026
- Chelsea Flower Show 2026: balcony and container gardens announced
After an anxious hiatus, the RHS has confirmed that Range Rover will take its place in 2026, with the focus on its upcoming range of electric vehicles. This choice has concerned some, who see it as a troubling commercial subversion of the event’s recent shift towards more environmental concerns, and point to the ongoing debate about ticket prices and social inclusivity. Is the Chelsea Flower Show really the right place to sell ‘Chelsea tractors’?
James Wren, RHS director of development and corporate partnerships, is unapologetic. “At the RHS we create partnerships with purpose. I have worked in corporate sponsorship for over two decades, and although this field used to be primarily about brand promotion, now the focus is less on hospitality and more focused on mutual brand values. We are very comfortable that Range Rover is a good fit for our work at the Society.”
Multi-award-winning designer Andy Sturgeon certainly has no reservations. “Chelsea is a global brand and the RHS should have sponsors knocking at their door,” he says. “I don’t think there is a moral angle. The Society’s wider work is largely funded by Chelsea. Visitor numbers are limited by planning permission, so they need to bring in as much sponsorship money as they can. So what if that makes it elitist? Tickets are expensive, but anyone can watch it on the telly for free, and it still sells out. If they can
shift tickets at those prices then they should do so.”
And that, says RHS head of shows development Sarah Poll, is the point. “Sponsorship of Chelsea offers opportunities that money can’t buy in terms of entertaining on site – business breakfasts and after-hours entertaining – and of course there is the media coverage through the BBC. But fundamentally, we’re putting the show on for our visitors. We survey many of them, and the feedback we get is that they are happy with the experience.”
As long as 150,000-odd visitors and the world’s media keep coming back, it seems likely sponsors will continue to fund proceedings. But designers and exhibitors also pay a price – albeit a personal one. Can we take it for granted that they will continue to put themselves through the wringer for our entertainment?
“Chelsea is emotionally and physically demanding, and it pulls you away from paid work,” says Charlotte Harris. Her studio is not staging a garden this year, but more than 40 other designers are subjecting themselves to the spotlight of public scrutiny.
And with concerns about everything from elitism to sustainability, will the next generation of talented designers, landscapers and growers even want to exhibit at the show? A Chelsea Gold medal can cement a career, but the publicity isn’t really justification enough, according to Charlotte. “If we are going to sign up to 18 months of sleepless nights, it has to be for a project we feel passionate about and that connects with our values.
You may also like
- Chelsea Flower Show 2026: where to get tickets, dates and what's on - everything you need to know
- 10 essentials for visiting the Chelsea Flower Show
“What Chelsea offers in return is a rare kind of creative and professional intensity: the chance to make a garden at the highest level, working with brilliant nurseries, plantspeople, makers and contractors… And at its best, the show can take ideas around ecology, planting, landscape and the power of gardens and push them into public consciousness – like the Rewilding Britain garden in 2022, which helped propel rewilding into the mainstream at a speed I’m not sure it would otherwise have reached.”
We have always said our gardens are about starting conversations and in this, our final year, we are for the first time presenting a garden of our own HATTIE GHAUI, CEO, PROJECT GIVING BACK
Her studio has made Chelsea gardens for both commercial and charity sponsors, and she says the design process is not fundamentally different. “A charity brief is still a brief, and a commercial sponsor is usually trying to say something too. Chelsea has an extraordinary power to shape the conversation.”
Hattie Ghaui of PGB echoes that sentiment. “We have always said our gardens are about starting conversations and in this, our final year, we are for the first time presenting a garden of our own. It has been designed for us by James Basson, and we hope will stop people in their tracks and make them look differently.”
The last time James appeared at Chelsea, nine years ago, he won the coveted Best in Show with a design inspired by a Maltese quarry that divided opinion. It was funded by global investment manager M&G, which was the headline sponsor at the time. This year, James is presenting an evocation of Roussillon’s ochre mines, with otherworldly landforms and a plant palette of visually delicate, physically robust plants that is likely to be equally polarising.
In the final year of PGB-funded gardens, will this really be the last act of the undercover philanthropists behind it? “Well, it is the end of our grant-making era, but we are currently working on something rather exciting,” Hattie admits. So it seems the PGB conversation may not be over just yet…
