On the 26^th March Fiona Black and Julia Stafford Allen, County Organisers for the National Gardens Scheme (NGS) in Norfolk together with Simon Knighton, Chairman of Trustees for the Cavell Nurses’ Trust planted roses in the gardens around St Stephen’s Church in Norwich to commemorate the centenary of Edith Cavell’s death.

Simon Knighton said “I am delighted that in the year of the one hundredth anniversary of Edith Cavell’s death the NGS has made a donation of £50,000 to the Cavell Nurses’ Trust which will help us give vital support to UK nurses during difficult times”

The “Edith Cavell” roses, donated by Beales Roses in Norfolk were originally bred in 1917 but lost to cultivation; they were then rediscovered in Brundall in 1985. These Roses can be ordered from the Cavell Nurses’ Trust  at www.cavellnursestrust.org

Edith Cavell was born in Swardeston near Norwich, and was a nurse during the First World War. She is celebrated for saving the lives of both British and German soldiers and in helping over 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium.

She was sent for trial with 35 others. Most were sentenced to hard labour but
despite international pressure for mercy, she was shot by a German firing squad. Her execution received worldwide condemnation and extensive press coverage.

So many soldiers and civilians owed their lives to the dedication, self-sacrifice and hard work of nurses, and in 1917, in response to the execution an appeal was launched to help nurses who were “shattered mentally and physically, who have sought the health of others at the expense of their own.”

The Cavell Nurses’ Trust  still provides vital support to all UK nurses during very difficult times and the NGS are delighted to support this noble charity which has such a strong connection to Norfolk.

www.ngs.org.uk

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