'the world's not a great place all the time, but having things like this are reminders that there are good people in the world'
My mum always liked gardening, she was a massive fan of plants and gardens and at home we used to have a beautiful garden which she tended to all the time. So, it just seemed like it [The Grief Project] was a natural thing.
I love being outside anyway, I love having a walk in the countryside and things like that. It’s just that special grounding type of feeling being in nature brings you. I always preferred that. I always said I would quite like to live in the country, have a country cottage, so yeah, I think you’re either that type of person or you’re not. And yeah, I would prefer to be outside. And I don’t know, I just think it was the whole thing sitting around the fire chatting and talking about our experiences and just having that shared community project to do, but the shared grief as well. I think knowing people who are going through the same thing and knowing you’re not on your own or the feelings that you’re having are not unusual, it’s validating I think, isn’t it? And we’re still here. We’re still helping one another and I think that’s what’s so magical and that is why I’m so glad that I said yes now. Because there’s other offshoots isn’t there? There’s other things that come. Like this project for the Trees of Hope, this has come from that original Grief Project
I do think it’s amazing how things move on like this and then, you create these communities of people who help one another. Because, let’s face it, the world’s not a great place all the time, but having things like this are reminders that there are good people in the world, who can overcome things that other bad people do.
Louise Appleby was interviewed in 2025 as part of the Trees of Hope Project