The Royal Parks Foundation was a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

established in 2003 (registered charity number 1097545). It helped support London's eight Royal Parks. The charity's patron was

The Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

. The Royal Parks Foundation supported The Royal Parks Agency - a former agency of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in caring for the eight Royal Parks. The Royal Parks Foundation is no longer active and its website no longer exists. The parks are now managed by

The Royal Parks The Royal Parks make up land that was originally used for the recreation, mostly hunting, by the royal family. They are part of the hereditary possessions of The Crown, now managed by The Royal Parks, a charity which manages eight royal pa ...

, an organisation founded in 2017.

Deckchair Dreams

As part of its annual fund-raising efforts, the Foundation promoted Deckchair Dreams, through which artists donated individual works of art for the canvases of deck chairs which were reproduced and distributed through the Parks. Among the artists and celebrities who contributed to the scheme are

Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist and art collector. He was one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingdom's richest ...

Will Young William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is an English singer, songwriter and actor. He came to prominence after winning the 2002 inaugural series of the ITV talent contest '' Pop Idol'', making him the first winner of the worldwide '' Ido ...

Antony Worrall Thompson Henry Antony Cardew Worrall Thompson (born 1 May 1951) is an English restaurateur and celebrity chef, television presenter and radio broadcaster. Early life Worrall Thompson was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. His parents, Michael ...

Tracey Emin Dame Tracey Karima Emin (; born 3 July 1963) is an English artist known for autobiographical and confessional artwork. She produces work in a variety of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, film, photography, Neon lighting, neon text ...

Alexander McQueen Lee Alexander McQueen (17 March 1969 – 11 February 2010) was a British fashion designer and couturier. He founded his own Alexander McQueen (brand), Alexander McQueen label in 1992 and was chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001. His ac ...

, and

Raymond Briggs Raymond Redvers Briggs (18 January 1934 – 9 August 2022) was an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist and author. Achieving critical and popular success among adults and children, he is best known in Britain for his 1978 story ...

. Deckchairs from the 2008 collection were recycled into sling bags, made by designer

Bill Amberg Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

2010

The 2010 collection of deckchairs drew on themes of nuts, fruits and seeds in the parks, and represented a partnership with the Shanghai Botanical Gardens, including designs by British and Chinese artists.Deckchair Dreams at BBC news
Retrieved August 1, 2010 British designers included the milliner

Philip Treacy Philip Anthony Treacy (born 26 May 1967) is an Irish haute couture Hatmaking, milliner, or hat designer, who has been mostly based in London for his career, and who was described by ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'' magazine as "perhaps the greatest ...

, Rob Kesseler, cartoonists

Ronald Searle Ronald William Fordham Searle (3 March 1920 – 30 December 2011) was an English artist and satirical cartoonist, comics artist, sculptor, medal designer and illustrator. He is perhaps best remembered as the creator of St Trinian's School and f ...

and Alexander Williams, and the wildlife sculptor

Simon Gudgeon Simon Gudgeon (born 1958) is a British sculptor specialising in large pieces for public display, usually in bronze, but also sometimes glass or stainless steel. He operates his own sculpture park. Early life Gudgeon qualified in law and onl ...

. Treacy's design featured an illustration of model

Linda Evangelista Linda Evangelista (born May 10, 1965) is a Canadian fashion model. She is regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential models of all time, and has been featured on over 700 magazine covers. Evangelista is primarily known for being t ...

wearing one of his hats. Around 700 chairs were made available across

Kensington Gardens Kensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, are among the Royal Parks of London. The gardens are shared by the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and sit immediately to the west of Hyde Pa ...

, Hyde Park,

Green Park The Green Park, one of the Royal Parks of London, is in the City of Westminster, Central London. Green Park is to the north of the gardens and semi-circular forecourt of Buckingham Palace, across Constitution Hill road. The park is in the m ...

, St. James's Park and

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, Borough of Camden (and historical ...

.Deckchair Dreams at Metro newspaper
Retrieved August 1, 2010 Sara Lom of the Royal Parks Foundation said it had been "wonderful to partner with Shanghai" on the project.

Notes

References

Deckchair Dreams at Metro newspaper
Retrieved August 1, 2010
Deckchair Dreams at BBC news
Retrieved August 1, 2010

Retrieved July 31, 2010
Deckchair Dreams at Shanghai Expo 2010
Retrieved August 2, 2010

External links

Official website of the Royal Parks Foundation
Retrieved August 1, 2010.
Official website of Deckchair Dreams
Retrieved August 1, 2010. {{dead link, date=January 2025 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes
Shanghai Botanic Gardens official site
Retrieved July 31, 2010 Charities based in London Organisations based in London with royal patronage *