Please see a press release below regarding local war veteran Chris Finney and his family, who are appearing on ITV's ‘Love Your Garden' make-over show, to be broadcast on Tuesday 7^th July.

A medium resolution image attached shows Chris and Liz Finney with Alan Titchmarsh at the Goonhavern Garden Centre, which the couple run.

A high resolution image is available on request.
 
Best Wishes,

Lucy

This email and its attachments are intended for the above-named only and may be confidential. If this has come to you in error, please delete/destroy and inform the sender immediately. You must take no action based on it, nor must you copy or show it to anyone. If you are not the intended recipient, any action taken or omitted to be taken in relation to it, is prohibited and may be unlawful. Although we have taken steps to ensure that this email and attachments are free from any virus, it is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure that they are virus free and Eventy Ltd will not accept liability for any damage caused by a virus.

PRESS RELEASE

To: News Desk

From: Goonhavern Garden Centre

Date: 25^thJune 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Local War Hero Has TV Garden Make-Over

A local man whose heroism during the Iraq war saw him awarded the highest honour for bravery has been selected to have a complete garden makeover by ITV's ‘Love Your Garden' team, led by Alan Titchmarsh.

Chris Finney and his wife Liz run theGoonhavern Garden Centrenear Perranporth, but are so busy helping other horticulturalists that they hadn't been able to create a proper garden of their own.

This all changed when they met the team behind‘Love Your Garden', which helps people create their dream outdoor spaces and is one of the most popular gardening shows on TV.

Liz put her husband forward to take part in the show and several weeks later the pair were surprised by the TV crew, who arrived in Goonhavern eager to transform Chris's garden at home into a beautiful, relaxing space after reading his story.

Thatstoryis one of exceptional courage and selfless determination.

Chris joined the British Army in 2000 and was on deployment in Iraq in 2003 when the armoured vehicle he was driving came under friendly fire; an American ground attack aircraft mistakenly shot at the convoy, which burst into flames.

Chris escaped from his burning vehicle, but returned to it when he realised that his gunner was trapped in the turret and succeeded in rescuing him.

He returned a second and third time, despite being hit by the returning aircraft in the back and legs, rescuing his friends and comrades in a courageous act that the army described as "out of all proportion to his age and experience."

Later that year he was awarded the George Cross — the highest award for ‘acts of conspicuous gallantry performed when not in the face of the enemy', becoming the youngest serviceman in theBritish Armed Forcesto receive that honour.

Having left the army, Chris now lives a much quieter life in the village of Goonhavern in Cornwall with Liz and their daughters; it was here that the ‘Love Your Garden' team wanted to create a special sanctuary for the family.

They descended on North Cornwall this spring and within three days the Finney's garden at home had been transformed; however presenter Alan Titchmarsh also found time to visit Chris at work and helped serve star-struck customers at Goonhavern Garden Centre.

Liz is delighted to have been featured, but explained that she couldn't reveal the results of the make-over, saying: "Our new garden is a secret until the big reveal at the end of the show, I can't give anything away!"

She did give a few hints, saying: "Since the transformation we have used the garden constantly, the girls play there after school every day now rather than watching TV, and we have enjoyed barbeques and just spending time outside surrounded by colourful plants and flowers - it's amazing, we absolutely love it!"

The episode will be aired on ITV 1 on Tuesday 7^thJuly at 8pm, and viewers can also catch-up on ITV Player afterwards.

-Ends---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Editor's Notes

Contact: Lucy Cornes at Eventy - Marketing & PR on 01326 376273 / lucy@eventy.co.uk

Photo: Please find attached a low res image of Chris and Liz Finney at Goonhavern Garden Centre with Alan Titchmarsh.

Goonhavern Garden Centreis a family business stocking a wide variety of plants, plant care and garden accessories including outdoor furniture, barbeques, pots and ornaments.

Chris and Liz aim to make all of their customers feel welcome. Their mission is to provide unparalleled customer service and to provide the best possible shopping experience.

The garden centre shares the site with other independent businesses, including a beauty salon and fruit and vegetable merchant.