are ambitious, nothing will change.”
Prince Harry
Bokang
Thabo
Patrick Baanen, Semongkong Children’s Centre
Ntahti
are ambitious, nothing will change.”
Prince Harry
Sentebale and B&Q helped to celebrate the Chelsea Flower Show’s Centenary year with our Forget-Me-Not Garden. The idea behind the garden was to educate people about Lesotho’s ‘Forgotten Kingdom’ and, more importantly, about Sentebale’s role in supporting Lesotho’s vulnerable children, many of whom are victims of extreme poverty and Lesotho’s HIV/AIDS epidemic. The garden aims to express the beauty and rich culture, as well as the inaccessibility and fragility of the country and its people, in particular the children of Lesotho.
From the 20th to 25th May, Sentebale exhibited for the first time at the Chelsea Flower Show. A total of 12,500 plants were grown and over 28,150 hours were spent designing, growing and building the Forget-Me-Not garden before the show opened on the 20th May. During the day Prince Harry was delighted to welcome onto the Sentebale garden, Her Majesty The Queen, Prince Phillip, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall. Princess Beatrice also visited the garden and said: “I think it’s really beautiful, and I love the story behind it.”
The garden was visited by well-known faces such as Emilia Fox, Kirstie Allsopp, Ben Fogle, Ringo Starr, Joanna Lumley and Zara Phillips before the show opened to the public where an estimated 157,000 visitors walked through the gates.
Designed by Jinny Blom, the Forget-Me-Not Garden reflected the landscape of Lesotho as well as the story of the orphans and vulnerable children of Lesotho. The stone circle in the garden featured a ‘Hearts and Crowns’, a pattern designed by Queen Mamohato, Prince Seeiso’s mother, which is often found on the blankets which Basotho people wear. The contoured mountain topped with a modern pavilion was designed as a nod to the Lesotho round houses and below this was a square pool set with rock within which sat a traditional mud walled ‘island’ inscribed withthe Litema designs seen on many homes in Lesotho. For more information about Litema Design visit: http://www.designindaba.com/news/litema
As one of the ‘must-see’ gardens at this year’s Show, we were delighted to receive a Silver Gilt Medal and would like to thank B&Q, Jinny Blom, Swatton Landscapes and Hortus Loci for all their help in designing and building the garden.
Our partnership with B&Q is on-going; visit a B&Q store now to purchase the Limited Edition Chelsea Collection. 20% of all sales will go to Sentebale. To find out more about the partnership, click here.
Yesterday, 15th May, marked the conclusion of Prince Harry’s tour of the United States, culminating with the Sentebale Royal Salute Polo Cup in Greenwich, Connecticut. There was Royal jubilation as The Sentebale Land Rover team was victorious in a close match, which saw Prince Harry scoring the winning goal. The Sentebale Land Rover team took home the trophy, which was presented by Christian Porta, Chairman and CEO of Chivas Brothers and top model Karolina Kurkova, with a victory of 4-3 over the St Regis Team. As the final amounts are being tallied at the end of the event, Sentebale have already reached a record breaking target of over 1 million U.S. dollars.
This year’s Polo Cup, the third consecutive partnership for Sentebale and Royal Salute, again drew a high profile crowd who travelled from all over the world to gather at the renowned Greenwich Polo Club, owned by businessman, art collector and polo patron, Peter Brant. Distinguished guests included His Grace Torquhil Ian Campbell, the 13th Duke of Argyll.
Greenwich and New York’s most influential figures also attended the Cup, including Karolina Kurkova and her husband Archie Dury, Olivia Palermo and boyfriend Johannes Hueble, Fashion designers Valentino and Jason Wu and TV host Gayle King who eagerly watched the Royal, and Argentine polo great, Nacho Figueras, battle it out on the field. Royal Salute Polo Ambassador and Captain of the Sentebale Land Rover team Malcolm Borwick also scored, leading the team to an impressive victory.
Speaking of his work for Sentebale, Prince Harry commented: “It is wonderful to be here at Greenwich Polo Club in Connecticut for the Sentebale Royal Salute Polo Cup 2013. The success of our three previous polo events has helped Sentebale make a real difference to the lives of vulnerable children in Lesotho, the Mountain Kingdom of southern Africa.”
Malcolm Borwick, Captain of The Sentebale Land Rover Team and Royal Salute Ambassador commented: “I feel very privileged to be playing polo in support of Sentebale; I admire what the charity is doing for the children of Lesotho. It is a great honour to play alongside my friends here in the USA. The Royal Salute World Polo Series has an ever increasing presence globally and events like this showcase what the brand is doing to raise the international profile of the sport, alongside great causes like Sentebale”.
Christian Porta, Chairman and CEO, Chivas Brothers commented: “Royal Salute is honoured to be partnering with Sentebale for the third year, and to see The Sentebale Land Rover team take the title. Royal Salute has a fantastic presence in the USA, with the Royal Salute Jubilee Cup also played at Greenwich Polo Club in September. The exhibition of skill and craftsmanship we have seen today is a testament to the support and success of polo on the East Coast. We are delighted to extend Royal Salute’s commitment to international polo here in America”.
The tournament is the fifth fixture in the Royal Salute World Polo Series for 2013, showcasing the brand’s commitment to the most prestigious international polo events across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East.
The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh, will be met by Mrs Elizabeth Banks (President, Royal Horticultural Society), at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, and will then tour the gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show in its centenary year.
Prince Harry will greet The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh at the B&Q Sentebale ‘Forget-Me-Not’ garden during the afternoon.
Sentebale is delighted to be exhibiting on the main garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show for the first time. We hope to raise awareness and funds for our cause in helping some of the most vulnerable children in the world, many of whom are victims of Lesotho’s HIV and AIDS epidemic.
The design of the garden is inspired by traditional features of Lesotho, in particular, the repetitive circular motif found in the landscape, buildings, hats and blankets of Lesotho, and represents the love and protection of the family in a country fractured by AIDS leaving many children vulnerable. We hope many people will visit our garden and come away knowing a little more about the small, landlocked country of Lesotho, the problems these children face and how Sentebale is giving hope to the next generation of Basotho people.
We are hugely grateful to B&Q for kindly sponsoring the garden and we hope to see you there.
Find our more about the B&Q Sentebale Forget-Me-Not Garden here.
Sentebale’s financial year ended on the 31st August 2012. Once again, there was an increase in the income growth and amount spent on charitable activities.
The Financial Statement showed that Sentebale increased its income from £2.089million in 2010/2011 to £2.414million, showing a rise of 16%. Charitable expenditure also increased from £1,334million in the previous year to £1.620million in the year ended on the 31st August 2012.
As part of our efforts to ensure we continued to see growth during this challenging economic climate, we broadened our fundraising efforts by taking part in new events and by developing new and existing relationships with our supporters – individuals, schools, trusts and foundation and corporate organisations. Their unwavering commitment has not only been reflected in this Financial Statement but more importantly, it has enabled us to make a visible difference to thousands of children’s lives in Lesotho.
In March 2012, Cathy Ferrier, ex-Fundraising Director from Oxfam was appointed CEO of Sentebale.
Cathy Ferrier, CEO said:
“I am pleased with the overall shape of the charity and the Report and Accounts show steady improvement in the charity’s performance, with income increasing by 16% year on year and the charitable expenditure increasing by 21%.
We are in a good position to significantly increase income over the coming years with some strong new funders coming on board, and this will enable us to expand our activities and reach many more children in southern Africa.”
Philip Green, Chairman, Board of Trustees said:
“I am very pleased to report that Cathy had a very successful first few months with us. The charity is making good progress and we have ambitious plans for the future.”
