40th Annual Garden Week, featuring the 7PM Project

Garden week is a celebration of the best gardens, landscape and outdoor living. Held in Floreat, this year was the 40th year of Garden week and promised to be an exciting show. With hundreds of exhibits including displays, new products and design concepts, useful information, and anything a garden guru could possibly want for their gardens. Why was Therapy Focus there, you may ask? Well with collaboration from Yates and Better Homes and Gardens Therapy Focus organised for a competition amongst WA primary schools. The idea was that each school had to produce a scarecrow that could be a friend for Therapy Focus’s sunflower mascot Sunny. 20 schools entered, with the winner receiving two garden beds to be put in by Rob Palmer and the Better Homes and Gardens Team. The week was fantastic, not only did we receive a number of donations but we had several enquiries into what we do and how they could help. It always amazes me at the number of people that know someone that has a disability of some sort, and are always on the look out for ways to help. And every little bit helps! We had a fantastic opportunity while there, by chance the PR officer knew our team, so when they found out that the 7PM Project was going to be filming a bit about Garden week we were able to slip Sunny (our mascot) into the background with the Therapy Focus logo on display. But it does raise the all important question- is all publicity good publicity? Particularly as the 7pm Project was making fun of Garden week and our scarecrow competition. What is the general opinion? Do you think appearing the background will do any good? Or as a not-for-profit that has little chance of affording our own TV time we should grab any chance we get? All in all this week has been fantastic, not only have we increased awareness about Therapy Focus, we raised some funds, got the primary schools in a great project that helps with sustainable living and managed to meet some TV celebrities in the process- Sam Mac and Rob Palmer. Well worth the effort!