Volunteering at the Arboretum

On Tuesday 9th and Wednesday 10th April 2013, I joined a group of 40 or so National Lottery winners and Camelot staff to help with some gardening tasks at the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas, near Burton-Upon-Trent. Before travelling there on the Monday afternoon, I had heard of the Arboretum, but I had no idea of the scale of the place.

Most of the volunteers stayed at the delightful Swinfen Hall Hotel, about ten minutes from the Arboretum, but owing to so many wanting to attend the project, myself and five other solo male volumteers opted to stay at the Holiday Inn Express in Lichfield.

The Holiday Inn was a basic hotel, clean enough, but not a place you would want to spend more than a couple of days at. Swinfen Hall, however, resembled a country mansion, with parkland, an ornamental pond and a walled garden. The interior of the hotel was also stunning.

After checking into the Holiday Inn, I drove over to Swinfen Hall for an evening meal – a magnificent affair with home-made soup, roast chicken and rhubarb crumble. This was washed down with wine, although I resisted the temptation as I was nearing my 100th day without alcohol.

As Tuesday arrived, we made our way to the Arboretum on a crisp morning with a brisk, chilly wind. After a presentation by the Arboretum staff, we split into two groups to start our work. The larger group header for the Shot At Dawn Monument to lay a new path and to improve the base of the monument. The whole site lies in the Trent Valley floodplain, so is prone to flooding, and the Shot At Dawn Monument was particularly muddy.

I joined a small group which did some planting in some newly created flower borders close to the Shot At Dawn.

By the end of the first day, most of the work allocated to us was completed, so some extra projects were hastily arranged for day two.

After a tiring day, all returned to their hotels to freshen up before another excellent meal of soup, beef and mushroom pudding and chocolate tart.

Day two was brighter and warmer than the previous day, and while the Shot At Dawn group completed their task, I joined a group of half a dozen fellow winners and we went to create a raised bed and planted it with Peace Roses. It came as a big shock to us that we had to build the raised bed ourselves, but we knuckled down to the task and created something of which we were all proud.

During the day, the media arrived and I was interviewed by Central News and Radio Derby. Needless to say, it was the same old questions, but Central News showed some old footage of when I first moved into Bracken House, which was interesting to see.

After lunch, we were presented with a goody bag by the Arboretum and we all headed home after a further round of interviews and photographs.

I was very impressed by the site, which is due to double in size over the next couple of years from its current 150 acres to 200 acres. Work starts in July on a new Visitors Centre, shops, offices and educational rooms, which is due to be completed by Spring 2015. The Arboretum is a very special place, but in a couple of years time, when building work is done, and trees have matured further, it will be a spectacular monument for the country.

Related articles

• Lottery winners help build path (independent.ie)
• Lottery winners help build path (belfasttelegraph.co.uk)
• Tribute to troops killed in 2012 (bbc.co.uk)