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Fire fighters from Battersea station of the London Fire Brigade, on Este Road near Clapham Junction, visited the Flower Market this morning, to source plants and supplies for a rooftop memorial garden.

The garden is being built to honour a fallen colleague, providing a peaceful place for both the grieving family and the station crew to relax and support their mental health. Additionally, the project is being entered into a brigade-wide welfare competition to raise funds for The Fire Fighters Charity.

Guided by Giles Roddy of Covent Garden Market Authority (CGMA), the crew came to shop for pollinator-friendly plants, hydrangeas, lavender, and materials to build a "bee hotel."

CGMA funded a large part of the cost, but moved by the fire fighters' cause, wholesalers Evergreen Exteriors, Evergreen Pots & Soil, Quality Plants, Porters Foliage and Ilo Bloom all stepped up generously, offering significant discounts, providing items at cost, and donating goods outright.

The visit concluded with the crew loading the sizable haul into their fire rescue vehicle, including japonicas, hydrangeas, lavender, mixed herbs and a wide range of other pristine plants and foliage.

Fire fighter Katherine Shaw said: "We have a rooftop garden, which is a memorial garden that honours one of our colleagues who passed away in 2016. The family is approaching the anniversary, and they will be coming back to sit in the garden, to spend time there, basically."

She added that supporting mental health is a major focus for the fire service generally. “We are so grateful for the support of the Market as we would like the garden to be more welcoming, and a place for us to be able to relax and for our own welfare. We're very big on supporting everyone's mental health," Katherine explained.

Firefighters across the station have worked at rebuilding flower beds, decking and posts to make a canopy shade, she added. "We're doing it all from recycled products or donated plants in order to give everything a second life.

“We're also entering the Brigade in Bloom competition, to be the best fire station garden in London, and any winnings will go towards the Fire Fighters Charity, which helps and supports all firefighters. The charity has got four separate centres around the UK that and we can go there for anything; any kind of rehab, mental or physical. Anything we do to raise funds tends to go towards helping them, because they help us."

Giles, CGMA’s Communications Director, said: “We all owe so much to the brave men and women across our emergency services and it is a privilege to be able to support this cause.

“Katherine has kindly agreed to share the developing story of the garden and we can’t wait to see what they do with the fantastic products they took with them.”