Victoria Orves Marshall is brightening up her local community and giving back to key workers through the power of plants.
Victoria Orves Marshall has been running Victoria Floristry since 2010, and while under lockdown, has not only been bringing joy to her loyal customers, but also giving back to the community’s beloved NHS.
Every Saturday for the past eight weeks, the florist has been donating one free bouquet to an NHS or key worker, as a thank you for all the hard work they are doing during the current climate.
“I just wanted to bring a bit of happiness to people, and give a little something to make the world a better place,” she explained.
The lucky recipients are all picked at random, notified, and Victoria delivers them their bouquet.
“Some people are emotional, as flowers are very emotive – they help connect people to their loved ones.
“The job I do, it’s surprising how it brings comfort and joy in these difficult circumstances,” she added.
The Bardwell resident has two decades worth of floristry experience under her belt, having studied garden design and working in commercial horticulture.
She said: “At the age of 20, I trained as a florist at Otley College, when I’d had my daughter.”
Having successfully been at the helms of her own floristry business for over 10 years – things briefly came to a halt once the Coronavirus and subsequent lockdown hit the UK.
“For the first two weeks, I couldn’t get flowers because the supply chain crashed,” Victoria explained. “But two weeks after lockdown began, I started working again.”
During those two weeks, Victoria had the idea to create something beautiful for her customers that would allow her to still work with flowers – albeit in a more resourceful way.
“I had a request that I couldn’t fulfil, as I didn’t have access to certain fresh flowers, so I bought some roses, air-dried them and created a nature wreath. I wanted to still be creative, and I wouldn’t like to not be doing what I love – and they’ve taken off from there.
“I think the wreaths are quite popular as they’re more natural, and they last a long time.”
Once flowers were back in stock, and knowing how powerful the language of floristry can truly be – Victoria decided to give back to those working hard to keep the community up and running.
Passionate about seasonal flowers, Victoria gets all her blooms from Holland – with popular varieties at the moment including peonies, lilies, chrysanthemums, carnations and alliums.
Delivering her floral creations either on her bike or in her van, she offers free local delivery.
To nominate a key worker you believe deserves a bouquet, visit www.facebook.com/victoriafloristry.co.uk
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