Just before Geoff Stonebanks, the Publicity Officer for the scheme in East & Mid Sussex commences his monthly round-up of gardens to visit each month, he thought a little round up of last year’s achievements might be useful, along with a link to view the Sussex booklet online.
An amazing achievement
A record £3,403,960 was donated to some of the UK’s best-loved nursing and health charities by the National Garden Scheme in 2023 thanks to the many visits made to the gardens opening for the scheme. This represents a superlative achievement by the garden owners and county team volunteers who together worked tirelessly to host open days at 3,389 gardens across the year.
The lion’s share, £2,475,000 goes to some of the UK’s best-loved nursing and health charities*, many of which have continued to provide vital support to the NHS and communities across the UK in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and who are now struggling to provide services in the new cost of living crisis. The long-term nature of funding from the National Garden Scheme allows these charities to continue the provision of critical community nursing services, end-of-life care and respite for families and carers across the UK.
The National Garden Scheme relies primarily on the income generated by admission at its garden gates and through the sale of plants, teas and cake. Additional income streams include fundraising events such as online talks, garden parties, and commercial partnerships. For details of how donations are spent please refer to the Impact Report 2023 – an online version can be found here: https://bit.ly/NGSImpactReport2023
This year’s NGS Sussex gardens
As the new year kicks off, the Sussex booklet of gardens opening in 2024 has just been made available online: booklet. The hard copy is being distributed in mid-February. Now’s the time to browse the gardens on offer and plan which you fancy visiting through the course of the year.
Whether you are a keen gardener or love to explore gardens, or both, visiting a National Garden Scheme garden ticks all the boxes. In Sussex, we have a rich and varied choice of more than 200 gardens opening for us in 2024. There is truly something for everybody, from the compact town gardens to the rolling acres of landscaped country gardens and everything in between, including community gardens and vineyards. There are also many gardens that welcome families and children, allow dogs, have wheelchair access, open by arrangement for groups, have an NGS open day, and pretty much everyone lays on the refreshments and cakes that the NGS is renowned for. For many gardens, you can now book your tickets online via the NGS website and a number of gardens also offer cashless payment on the day.
Check out the full details on all gardens at www.ngs.org.uk
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