Generations bloom together at Chichester Cathedral’s Festival of Flowers

A remarkable story of friendship, mentorship and creativity across generations will be on display at this year’s Festival of Flowers at Chichester Cathedral in June, where two volunteers nearly 30 years apart in age are collaborating on an imaginative floral installation.

Receptionist Kirsty Gathercole, who works at Q Hair & Beauty in Chichester, will partner with long-time Cathedral volunteer Yvonne Kelly, who is in her eighties, to create a unique display in the South Transept around the historic Bishop Stratford Tomb.

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Their collaboration reflects the extraordinary intergenerational spirit of the Festival, where contributors ranging in age from seven years-old to those in their nineties work side by side to bring the Cathedral to life with flowers.

Kirsty first joined the Cathedral flower team nine years ago as its youngest member, arriving with no formal floristry experience but a lifelong love of creativity and design. Starting as a newcomer, she spent her first weeks shadowing experienced arrangers before gradually taking on more responsibility - growing into one of the team’s trusted and experienced volunteers.

“Everyone was so welcoming when I joined,” she says. “I had no experience, but I’ve always been creative and loved design. I learned by watching, helping and just being part of the team.”

During the pandemic, when the volunteer group temporarily shrank, Kirsty stepped into a more senior role, helping to keep the Cathedral’s floral tradition alive. It was during this period that she grew especially close to Yvonne, an experienced floral arranger who was co-leading a team of around 20 volunteers at the Cathedral. With decades of experience and a lifelong passion for floristry, she became both mentor and friend to Kirsty.

“Yvonne taught me everything,” Kirsty explains. “She gives you the confidence and space to try things and trust your ideas.”

Their partnership will be particularly meaningful at this year’s Festival, as the pair reunite to create a display together since they first collaborated at the 2024 event. That installation, located in the Mary Magdalene Chapel, evoked an old-fashioned flower stall with baskets and urns filled with orange and purple blooms - inspired by the days when the Cathedral was a hub of trade and community life.

This was Kirsty’s first Festival of Flowers display having previously lacked the confidence to take part. “Yvonne asked me to work with her on an installation for the 2024 event, and despite some initial reservations I loved every minute of it,” explains Kirsty. “It is a huge undertaking, and I would never have taken that step without Yvonne’s encouragement and support. It took months of planning, two days to build and required constant attention throughout the week to keep the flowers fresh. It definitely gave me the confidence to take on something bigger.”

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This year, Kirsty will lead the design concept for a dramatic installation surrounding the Bishop Stratford Tomb. Rather than a traditional arrangement, she envisions something more like a theatrical scene or large-scale diorama - combining floristry with props, storytelling and sound.

“I’m not a florist in the classical sense,” she explains. “I love building a scene - almost like a set. The story, the atmosphere and the props are what excite me.”

Responding to this year’s Festival theme of Nature’s Embrace, conceived by lead designer Caroline Daines, Kirsty and Yvonne opted for the Wintering display. Inspired by the wetlands near Kirsty’s childhood home in Surrey, the installation will suggest the edge of a pond with a jetty-style platform framing the historic tomb. Subtle soundscapes of birdsong and distant thunder will create an immersive atmosphere.

The pair have spent months exchanging ideas, collecting props and even scavenging natural materials from the landscape. Kirsty has been walking the fields near her home in Bosham with a small cart, cutting hedgerow plants and weeds to dry in the eaves of her garage.

“I’ve been collecting things wherever I can,” Kirsty says. “Twisted willow from Facebook Marketplace, dried plants and weeds from the hedgerows - anything that helps create that winter wetland feel.”

The floral palette will reflect a quiet, winter-like mood with white hellebores, alliums and dried seed heads punctuated with deeper tones such as dark red spray roses.

For Yvonne, whose life took her across the world - including time in Iberia and Singapore to South Korea - church communities have always provided a sense of grounding and connection. After settling in Chichester, she became deeply involved in Cathedral life, also arranging flowers at nearby Arundel Cathedral.

Today, she remains passionate about sharing her knowledge with the next generation.

Together, their partnership captures the heart of the Festival of Flowers: creativity, collaboration and community across generations.

“It’s about learning from each other,” Kirsty says. “And creating something together that neither of us could do alone.”