To mark Mental Health Awareness Week, broadcaster Together TV’s Together For Good Sunflower Challenge will give away an extra 300,000 sunflower seeds. This is on top of the 100,000 given away when the campaign launched to connect people to their communities.

 

• The campaign provides seeds, a grow chart and 12-week guided growing journey with TV gardener Danny Clarke, along with growing tips from gardening expert Philip Turvil, former programme director of Kew Gardens whether it be on a plot of land or just in a simple window box.
• Thousands of people across Yorkshire and the Midlands have already signed up for the Sunflower Challenge.
• Charities, companies, Mutual Aid groups and community groups from across the UK, including Worthing, Kent, North Staffordshire, Hoo Peninsula and more, are supporting the challenge by promoting and rallying locals to join the initiative.
• National charities like Jo Cox Foundation, Field Studies Council and more are also supporting the initiative.
• To join over 20k people who have already registered for free seeds, people can register here: www.togethertv.com/sunflowerchallenge

 

London, May 2021 - Together TV’s Together for Good Sunflower Challenge is increasing its sunflower seed giveaway from 100,000 to 400,000 due to huge public demand.

This campaign aims to help people's mental health and wellbeing by keeping them active beyond the lockdown. With over 10,000 people signing up in the first 12 hours, with many from Yorkshire and the Midlands, viewers can still apply for their seed kits by registering to the broadcaster’s website.

Keen growers can then follow their personalised gardening journey over 12 weeks, through a mix of exclusive content, rewards and gentle reminders, ultimately growing sunflowers to give some away to those who have helped them during the lockdowns.

Local mutual aid and community groups in Wirral, South Derbyshire, Todmorden, Brighton and Hove, Merseyside, and Hackney and across the UK have joined Together TV by supporting the campaign and rallying locals to sign up; including the Worthing mutual aid group, WhooCares from the Hoo Peninsula, All the Small Things based in North Staffordshire, Mental Health North East in Durham, and many more. 

Thousands of viewers from Midlands and Yorkshire have already registered. The charity ellenor hospice in Kent have encouraged bereaved families and friends to join the sunflower challenge to remember and honour people who passed away under ellenor’s care. 

National charities like Jo Cox Foundation, Field Studies Council and more are also supporting the initiative.

TV gardener Danny Clarke will inspire viewers and help them make their first steps into the gardening world through tutorial videos available to all the participants.

To launch the campaign, former programme director of Kew Gardens and eco business director of the Field Studies Council Philip Turvil is sharing his tips for how to make the best of your outdoor space this year: 

 

1. Prep the soil - make a welcoming home for your plants by adding peat-free multipurpose compost. This will top up nutrients and lock in moisture.

2. Look after seedlings - keep the soil surface moist and help protect plants from slugs using grit or wildlife-friendly pellets. 

3. Water thoroughly - plants prefer a good soaking in summer to reach their roots, rather than a light sprinkling of water that tends to evaporate. Plants are happier with more water, less often. 

4. Keep 'em strong - plants get hungry, so feed them with extra compost over the soil surface or liquid feed every month. This will keep them growing well and help them fight off pests and diseases. 

5. Trim back n' sides - prune off dead, diseased and damaged growth from your plants to help keep them healthy and sprightly.

 

Danny Clarke, TV gardener said: “It is such an exciting campaign, to help people connect with a better self and with their community too. I can’t wait to get viewers going with planting and growing their own sunflowers.”

 

Alexander Kann, CEO of Together TV said: “As the nation comes out of lockdown we want to spread some happiness through our Together For Good Sunflower Challenge. This campaign will help people feel more positive and motivated, connected to people like them giving it a go with sunflowers, and a focus on a new hobby. Ultimately we’d love people to give sunflowers away to those who’ve supported them over the last year, and take their new passion out into the community, by joining gardening and growing groups that are helping improve their local area.”  

Together TV broadcasts on Freeview 82, Sky 170, Virgin 269 and Freesat 164, along with being on-demand on My5 and social videos on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and DailyMotion.

 

ENDS

 

For further information, photos, videos or an interview with a spokesperson, please contact:

Francesca Aita
Head of Marketing, Together TV
[email protected]

 

Notes to Editors

About Together TV
Together TV is the UK’s broadcaster inspiring positive change. We run a national TV channel and digital platform, which inspires people to do good in their lives and communities.

We programme entertaining shows that focus on wellbeing and creativity and we champion diverse voices while highlighting the great work of the charitable and voluntary sector. In doing so, we open our audience’s eyes to the opportunities around them and motivate them to take part.

As a result of watching, our viewers change attitudes, gain confidence and do more for themselves and their community, from volunteering for a charity to getting involved in a creative project or fundraising for a cause close to their heart and to getting help and support. Our vision is a world where people and their communities thrive together.

Together TV broadcasts on Freeview 82, Sky 170, Virgin 269 and Freesat 164, and is available on-demand through www.togethertv.com, Daily Motion, YouTube, Facebook and My5.

Together TV is owned by over two hundred individual shareholders with a wider group of funders and donors alongside the media and digital industry.

It is a charitable Community Benefit Society and its board includes representatives from the broadcasters and charity sector alongside elected Members.

The Community Channel operating as Together TV is a charitable Community Benefit Society registered with the FCA (RS007400).

www.togethertv.com

ENDS