Eight young people from Morecambe, Lancashire, who co-created ‘The Eden Project Bring Me Sunshine Garden’ RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026, have come together ahead of what would have been Eric Morecambe’s 100th birthday on 14 May – before travelling to London to attend the world-famous show, open to the public from 19–21 May.
Representing Morecambe at RHS Chelsea
The group will represent their town at RHS Chelsea, sharing the story behind the garden on a global stage. The Chelsea exhibit, a tribute to Morecambe’s most celebrated son, captures the warmth, humour and optimism of a community on the cusp of transformation and offers a first glimpse of Eden Project Morecambe. The charity, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, is set to open the new destination in winter 2028.
Echoing the spirit of the iconic Bring Me Sunshine song performed by Morecambe and Wise, the project reflects Eden Project’s belief in positive change, signalling a hopeful new chapter for the town and its people. Inspired by the dramatic coastal landscapes and rich seaside heritage of Morecambe Bay, the garden is a vibrant celebration of nature, renewal and the role young people play in shaping a brighter future.
Young people of Morecambe were asked to participate
Multi-award-winning garden designer Harry Holding and architect Alex Michaelis placed young people from Morecambe at the heart of the design process. Through a series of hands-on workshops, participants shared ideas, explored their connection to place and discussed their aspirations for the future.
Harry Holding and artist Finbar Ward also led creative sessions on the shores of Morecambe Bay, where the group responded to the landscape through nature-based art activities, including rubbings, mould-making and clay work. These contributions have been incorporated into a striking central sculpture that will form the focal point of the Chelsea garden.
The garden will become a permanent part of the Morecambe Eden Project
Following RHS Chelsea, the garden will be relocated permanently to the Morecambe seafront, forming part of the free to enter 1.5-acre community gardens at Eden Project Morecambe. It will serve as a living classroom and community hub, rooted in the natural and cultural heritage of the bay. Installation on the seafront will begin in summer 2026, with the gardens set to open to the public in spring 2027, ahead of the full Eden Project Morecambe opening in winter 2028.
Eden Project CEO, Andy Jasper, said:
It’s incredibly special to see young people from Morecambe coming together to mark Eric Morecambe’s 100th birthday, before taking something they’ve helped create to RHS Chelsea. That sense of pride, creativity and connection to place runs right through it.
This is a celebration of Morecambe – its spirit, its landscape and its people – brought to life through their ideas. Taking that to a global stage, and then bringing it back home, makes this moment even more meaningful.
What’s most exciting is that this is just the beginning – the garden will live on in Morecambe as a free, welcoming space for the community and a first glimpse of what Eden Project Morecambe will become.
The garden champions green careers
Co-created with young people, the garden – a project made possible with match-funding support from grant-making charity Project Giving Back – champions pathways into green careers and skills development. It features edible planting, a solar-powered outdoor classroom blending nature with technology, and innovative materials such as crushed cockle shell and steel-laced limestone – offering an early insight into the project’s pioneering sustainability approach.
The young co-creators from Morecambe who will be attending RHS Chelsea described what the project has meant to them:
Amy said:
I’m so grateful to be representing Morecambe and the Eden Project at the Chelsea Flower Show. There’s nowhere else like the bay – its beauty and natural systems are so special, and it’s amazing to see it getting the attention it deserves.
The Bring Me Sunshine garden means so much to me because it has community embedded into its design. It’s a space visitors can enjoy, but also somewhere local people can use as a site of education and nourishment.
Kim said:
I’m looking forward to Morecambe having a bit more colour and life to it. I hope people fall in love with the town again.
Ruby said:
Being involved with this project, has given me the opportunity to learn and be encouraged by all the different people I have met to keep on going with my interests in plants and nature.
The Eden Project Morecambe
Eden Project Morecambe is set on the site of a former seafront leisure complex. At its heart will be two immersive, shell-inspired superstructures: the tropical Realm of the Sun, centred around an 18-metre Elder Tree, and the atmospheric Realm of the Moon, inspired by the tidal rhythms and stories of Morecambe Bay.
At RHS Chelsea, the young people will share their experiences of co-designing the garden, acting as ambassadors for Morecambe and representing the many others who see Eden Project as a catalyst for regeneration in the North West.
For more information about the Eden Project, see www.edenproject.com
Friends of Bylines Network
There has never been a greater need for grassroots journalism that investigates the stories that really matter, holds power to account and champions the voices of everyday citizens. We are proudly powered by volunteers but what we do isn’t free.
STAND WITH US for independent, citizen-led journalism that makes democracy stronger, and you will even get some exclusive benefits.
