Potters, horticulturalists, residents of the Ullswater catchment and fans and followers of Lowther Castle will be well aware by now of the amazing art installation Ten Thousand Daffodils that is going to be on show in the gardens at Lowther Castle from April 24.
The event — based on Wordsworth’s eponymous poem — has been put in place by Dockray-based potter Helen Ratcliffe and aims to raise up to £300,000 for six charities, both local and UK-wide.
Thanks to an incredible army of volunteers — approximately 350 and counting — most of the daffodils have already been assembled. They are currently being glazed and fired in a building on the Lowther Estate.
While the event itself will not raise money, sale of the individual daffodils will. Each ceramic flower will be available to buy from March 1. They will cost £25 each plus postage and packaging.
Buyers will receive them in July, once the installation has come down.
Speaking on behalf of the six charities who will benefit from sales of the daffodils, Jim Lowther of Lowther Castle said: “We are very excited about this event. It will raise a great deal of money for many great causes. And it will also shine an invaluable spotlight on the work that each charity does.”
Helen Ratcliffe, organiser, added: “Judging by the number of people who have volunteered to help and by their general enthusiasm for the project, I am very excited to see how much money we can raise through the sale of the daffodils. Each one will come hand-packed in its own box, with a leaflet giving information about the beneficiary charities.
“Every single one of these charities does remarkable work and we are going to do our utmost to sell every last ceramic flower.” Daffodils can be bought from March 1 via www.tenthousanddaffodils.org/shop
Among the charities which will benefit are the Friends of the Ullswater Way, James’ Place, which supports men in suicidal crisis; the Sunbeams Music Trust; and Another Way, which works in education on the environment and was founded in 2019 by 16-year-old Cumbrian schoolgirl Amy Bray.
For more information about the event, visit www.tenthousanddaffodils.org
