Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice is asking children across Manchester to enlist in a one-day-only Junior Guerrilla Gardening Army which will invade Radcliffe on 16 September and bombard the area with thousands of forget-me-not flower seeds. The event is to raise awareness for Grace’s Place, the charity’s soon-to-open children’s hospice on Dumer’s Lane, serving Bury, Oldham and Rochdale.  

Armed with flower-power in the form of 650 packets of forget-me-not seeds – representing the 650 children across the area in need of hospice services – the little guerrillas will storm roadsides, parks and woodland around Radcliffe. They’ll be scattering forget-me-not seeds which, once germinated, will blossom into a magical, fragrant blue surprise for local residents and businesses.  

Children of all ages who would like to enlist are requested to report to Grace’s Place on Dumer’s Lane, Radcliffe M26 2TP at 10.15 hours on Saturday 16 September. The stunt will last around two hours and all guerrillas must be accompanied by an adult.  

Children are asked to kit up in wellingtons or boots, along with any gear in the charity’s purple colour – do-rags, hairbands, t-shirts, tutus, tights, trousers, jackets, feather boas, tiaras, anything! – and to bring any hand-held gardening tools they may have. The charity will initiate the guerrillas with camo face-paint and will provide some branded t-shirts. Once kitted out, the children will head out to plant seeds in targeted locations around Grace’s Place. Rations will be available in the form of a tuck shop and refreshments.  

Before being demobbed, the guerrillas will receive an extra pay-packet of seeds to plant at home, school, a local community centre or any other outdoor space. People can sign up to the event via Facebook.  

If families, schools, community groups or local businesses can't make the event but want to get involved, they can do so by planting seeds in their local communities or crafting forget me not flowers (knitting, sewing, painting, paper crafts - anything!), sharing a photo on social media and making a donation.  

Help us spread the sea of forget me not flowers across Manchester and beyond by using the hashtag #ForgetMeNotMCR and tagging the charity GracesPlaceFMN (Facebook), @GracesPlaceFMN (Twitter), @forgetmenotchild (Instagram).