Sunflowers for Ukraine: Maiden Castle's trail to return
The Maiden Castle Sunflower Trail is coming back - and bringing the town centre with it.
The first shoots are growing for the Maiden Castle Farm Sunflower Trail which is back this August to raise money for Ukraine.
Sunflowers happen to be Ukraine's national flower, and this year a Ukrainian hospital will benefit from fundraising.
The event became very popular after it launched last August for just a few weeks. It raised over £25,000 for Dorset County Hospital.
The county hospital will still benefit this year, but the farm will also be raising money for Cherkasy Hospital.
Organiser Hazel Hoskins told Greatest Hits Radio:
"They're gorgeous flowers, they make you smile, they're uplifting and everyone needs to feel good and focus on their wellbeing and sunflowers are a natural flower that just automatically make you do that.
"The enjoyment that everyone that the local community got and we as a family got, and the phenomenal amount of money that we were able to give to the special care baby unit because of the event, we just felt we had to do it again."
The sunflower seeds were planted recently and are already sprouting with a few leaves.
It's going to take three months for them to grow, meaning the farm is looking at an early August opening for the attraction. Last year people travelled from as far as London just to see the spectacle.
This year Dorchester's going to be joining in the floral fun, including a sunflower sculpture and sunflower shop window display competition.
Dorchester’s beautiful Borough Gardens will be a popular venue as it showcases a range of sunflower varieties which have been specially grown to highlight the beauty of these amazing flowers.
The main event will happen in August at Maiden Castle Farm itself when the sunflower crop is fully grown and in all its glory. The sunflower trail created on the farm will be a highlight for many people, especially the many thousands who visited the attraction last summer.
The Main Trail will take an estimated 40 minutes but there will also be a shorter trail for any visitors with accessibility requirements. The attraction will include a photograph competition, opportunities for sundowner sessions, Pilates in the sunflowers and more to be announced.
To boost the green credentials of the event, visitors will be encouraged to follow a special scenic path all the way from Dorchester’s town centre to the heart of the trail – a distance of about 1.5 miles. All this in the farm’s amazing location nestled at the foot of the historic Maiden Castle – the largest prehistoric hill fort in England.
A member of Dorchester Town Council said,
“It is brilliant to be able to work with Maiden Castle Farm and shops across the town to create such a great attraction and raise money for local and Ukrainian causes. We have all been devastated to see the events unfolding in Ukraine and the sunflower is the Ukrainian National flower too. All of these sunflowers are going to be so beneficial for local bees and biodiversity too.”