Burgon & Ball is supporting a new cancer care centre in Manchester with garden tools for its spectacular glasshouse, a collaboration between architects Foster and Partners, and garden designers Dan Pearson and Lisa Rawley.
Maggie's Manchester, located in the grounds of the Christie Hospital, will provide emotional, practical and social support to people with cancer and their families in a warm, uplifting setting. Once fully established, Maggie's Manchester expects to receive over 60,000 visits a year. The glasshouse is a key area of the centre, a place where people living with cancer will be able to enjoy participating in gardening - and tools from Burgon & Ball will help keep the surroundings in tip-top condition.

Renowned architect Lord Norman Foster considers the integrated glasshouse to be most important space in the facility. It extends from the south of the building, providing a space where visitors can gather and enjoy the therapeutic qualities of nature and the outdoors.

The surrounding gardens have been created by landscape designer Dan Pearson, combining a rich mix of spaces, and Lisa Rawley has provided support with the specialist glasshouse planting. Maggie's has appointed a specialist gardener to maintain and develop the glasshouse and gardens, with ongoing support from Dan and Lisa.

Maggie's Manchester centre fundraising manager Jemma Halman said: "Gardens are very important to our centres and each one is carefully created to be a welcoming extension of the inside space. The glasshouse is looking wonderful - it will be much loved by our visitors. Having quality equipment to care for it will help us ensure we can continue this benefit in the future for the thousands of visits we expect each year."

Burgon & Ball managing director Heather Culpan said: "We are delighted to be able to support Maggie's with an assortment of our garden tools. Gardens can be so important as places of peace and relaxation, but also the interest and optimism they bring as plants grow and bloom can bring welcome respite at an incredibly stressful time for families."