Our History
Perennial was founded in 1839, as an early secular caring charity. An Annual Dinner became the focus of fundraising and in 1852 Charles Dickens became one of the first of numerous "celebrities" who have added their weight to the task of attracting support. His powerful speech drew attention to the circumstances of the gardener at the end of his working life:
"...His gains are not great and knows gold and silver more as being the colours of fruit and flowers than by their presence in his pockets. He is subjected to that kind of labour which renders him peculiarly liable to infirmity and when old age comes upon him, the gardener is, of all men perhaps, best able to appreciate the benefits of the Institution..."
For a hundred years we continued to operate both as a pension fund subscribed by employees - typically head gardeners - and as a charity drawing donations from the great and the good - royalty and aristocracy owning big gardens employing large staffs.
As state pensions came in during the 20th Century, Perennial's focus was on problems of accommodation, running a care home for older gardeners and increasingly, as life expectancy rose, retirement accommodation. Many clients had lived in traditional tied cottages. Our financial assistance broadened to include grants in emergencies and help to those who had become disabled. We began to help people from other branches of horticulture - parks, horticultural trades - which were growing in importance.
In the 21st Century new needs are responded to, and new solutions to old and new problems found. Help in our traditional area of older people with lifelong service as gardeners and to those with accommodation problems, remains important, but there has been rapid change, resulting in new clients and new help.