Social Value

04 / 12 / 2025

Lovell has made a donation to sponsor the Water Tower Light Installation as part of the festive lights attraction at the contemporary garden in Alnwick.

The donation will be used to support the charity’s Young Gardeners programme, which nurtures the gardening skills of young people with additional needs, as well as giving them an opportunity to be part of a social group and make friends. Group members learn to grow vegetables and other plants, and the money provided by Lovell will go towards buying a new polytunnel for the group to use.

Lauren St Hilaire, Senior Partnerships Manager at The Alnwick Garden, said: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome Lovell as the sponsor of our Water Tower Light Installation for this year’s Winter Lights trail. Their support means so much to us. Not only does it help bring this magical experience to life, but it also directly contributes to the future of our Young Gardeners charitable programme.

“Thanks to their generous sponsorship, we will be able to fund a new polytunnel that will provide invaluable learning opportunities and a space for creativity to flourish. We’re incredibly grateful for our partnership with Lovell and their belief in the work we do here at The Alnwick Garden.”

The North East team at Lovell is already collaborating with the Young Gardeners, as the group was given the chance to design and create the garden of the show home at the new Edward’s Birch development being built by Lovell in Morpeth.

The group worked with landscape gardeners from Lovell to create the design with sustainability in mind. It includes areas for pollinators, hedgehog houses, a stumpery and vegetable planters. The garden will open for visitors to the development to see on Saturday 13 December 2025.

Ashleigh Tate, Regional Marketing and Social Impact Manager at Lovell, said: “Our ongoing relationship with The Alnwick Garden’s Young Gardeners is very important to us at Lovell. The group is providing a positive and nurturing experience for the young people who take part, offering them the chance to learn useful skills, enjoy the outdoors and make friends.

“It has been a great experience for our team to be involved with the Young Gardeners working on the show garden at Edward’s Birch.

“So, we were keen to support them and sponsoring one of the displays at the delightful Winter Lights trail at The Alnwick Garden was the perfect way to do that at the end of the year.”

The Alnwick Garden’s Winter Lights trail is on until Sunday 4 January 2026.

Captions

  • Young Gardeners Arran Burn (left) and Alfie Court (right). The group will have a new polytunnel to use next year thanks to Lovell sponsoring the Water Tower Light Installation at The Alnwick Garden’s Winter Lights trail.
  • The Water Tower Light Installation lit up and decorated for last year’s Winter Lights trail at The Alnwick Garden.