START@KEW
‘ONE SIMPLE STEP CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE’

A fun-filled interactive family eco-extravaganza in one of the world’s most sustainable and natural locations.

Inspired by HRH The Prince of Wales

25 – 29 AUGUST 2011

Start, an initiative by HRH The Prince of Wales to inspire the UK public to take simple steps towards achieving more sustainable living, is delighted to announce Start@Kew, a five day interactive eco-extravaganza of entertainment and simple ideas located in the historic Kew Gardens from 25-29 August.

Start@Kew will give visitors simple sustainable living ideas that they can start doing to make a difference. This family event will inspire people with sustainable ideas they can start on right now. The event will have entertainment, playful discovery and an entrepreneurial spirit.

Set within the beautiful grounds of Kew Gardens, visitors will be able to access Start@Kew, along with everything else Kew has to offer, for the general Kew admission price. Start@Kew will be located on a magnificent site between Kew Palace and the Kew Orangery and will be bursting with kids and family activities, a performance area, exhibits, demonstrations and interactive experiences that show the proven benefits of using fewer resources such as energy, water, food, fuel and materials.

Joey Tabone, CEO of Start, says: “The gorgeous environment of Kew and its connection with the natural world is the perfect setting for inspiring people. Everyone who comes to Kew at the end of August will be guaranteed a stimulating and memorable family day out – and of course a great Start experience that will be truly inspirational.”

Professor Angela McFarlane, Director of Public Engagement and Learning at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, says, “We are delighted to be working with Start to welcome the festival to the Gardens. This partnership reflects Kew’s mission to use plant-based solutions to mitigate the effects of environmental change and to help each and every one of us to understand how we can make a start at living more sustainably.”

The Start initiative is supported by a whole host of celebrities all trying to make their own difference and have already made a Start by making a sustainable promise:

Barbara Windsor: “Britain is such a beautiful place to holiday in, I’m going to Start promising to encourage people to ‘Carry On Camping’.”

Alan Titchmarsh: “I promise to start cycling again and avoid using the car for local journeys. Anyway, you can get a better view into folks’ gardens from a bike!”

Kirstie Allsopp: “I promise to keep my house as stylish and comfy as possible by dressing all the windows with gorgeous ‘homemade’ curtains and to always draw them closed at the right times so I’m warm in winter and cool in summer!"

Start@Kew takes place from 25-29 August 2011
Kew Gardens opens daily at 9:30am.
Tickets are priced: £13.90 for adults, £11.90 concessions, and children go free.
Tickets are available from www2.seetickets.com/kew

www.startuk.org

For further information contact:
Rebecca.gibbs@ldcommunications.co.uk
LD Communications Tel: 020 7439 7222

Notes to editors:

About Start:
Start, an initiative by HRH the Prince of Wales, aims to inspire the UK public to take simple steps towards more sustainable living. Start provides advice and inspiration for the simple, practical and fun ways in which we can all make a start, by bringing together the best ideas from all over the UK.

In 2010, Start attracted over 30,000 visitors to the beautiful gardens of Clarence House, The Prince of Wales’s official London Residence, and the neighbouring gardens of Lancaster House and Marlborough House, with a festival in celebration of sustainable living. The event featured over 270 musicians, comedians, environmental champions and over 100 inspiring and interactive displays from some of Britain’s best-known companies. The event attracted support and participation from the likes of Dame Vivienne Westwood, Alan Titchmarsh, George Clarke and Brian Blessed, to name just a few, as well as exclusively launching Emma Watson’s spring/summer People Tree collection with a spectacular fashion show.

Start@Kew is part of a broader 2011 programme that begins to take Start out around the UK, going where people are and inspiring them with fresh ideas – from the spring home shows, to the Royal Agricultural Shows, from sponsoring the London ITV weather, to working on pilot schemes in local communities, Start is building a reputation as the ‘go to’ place for exciting ideas on living differently.

About the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a world famous scientific organisation, internationally respected for its outstanding living collection of plants and world-class Herbarium as well as its scientific expertise in plant diversity, conservation and sustainable development in the UK and around the world. Kew Gardens is a major international visitor attraction. Its landscaped 132 hectares and RBG Kew’s country estate, Wakehurst Place, attract nearly 2 million visitors every year. Kew was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2003 and celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2009. Wakehurst Place is home to Kew's Millennium Seed Bank, the largest wild plant seed bank in the world. RBG Kew and its partners have collected and conserved seed from 10 per cent of the world's wild flowering plant species (c.30, 000 species). The aim is to conserve 25% by 2020, and its enormous potential for future conservation can only be fulfilled with the support of the public and other funders.

Kew receives funding from the UK Government through Defra for approximately half of its income and is also reliant on support from other sources. Without the voluntary monies raised through membership, donations and grants, Kew would have to significantly scale back activities at a time when, as environmental challenges become ever more acute, its resources and expertise are needed in the world more than ever. Kew needs to raise significant funds both in the UK and overseas. Members of the public can support the work of the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership by getting involved with the ‘Adopt a Seed, Save a Species' campaign. For £25 an individual can adopt a seed or for £1000 anyone can save an entire species.www.kew.org/adoptaseed.

For more information about Kew, please contact the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Press Office on +44 020 8332 5607 or email pr@kew.org