I wanted to give a shout-out to the National Garden Scheme.

It’s amazing – it gives visitors access to over 3,500 incredible private gardens in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands.  And it also raises huge amounts of money for nursing  and health charities through admissions, teas and cakes.

So how did it the National Garden Scheme begin?

Back in 1887, the Queen’s Nursing Institute was founded to co-ordinate national standards for district nurses. And it had the objectives of giving the ‘training, support, maintenance and supply’ of nurses for the sick poor, and establishing training homes, supervising centres and co-operating with other bodies.

In 1926, a council member – Miss Elsie Wagg – had the idea of raising funds for district nursing, through the obsession the nation had with gardening. 

So in 1927 the National Garden Scheme was founded.  Garden owners were asked to open their gardens for a shilling a head.   Over 600 gardens were opened and raised £8,191.

Why not buy a gift from the National Garden Scheme online shop?
It's a way to give the scheme your support!

Since that time, the National Garden Scheme has donated over £70 million to nursing and health charities.  In 2023, it made an annual donation of over £3.4 million.  Core beneficiaries include Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, Hospice UK and The Queen’s Nursing Institute.

But the Scheme also believes in the benefits of gardens, too, both physical and mental.

Children go free at most – but not all – gardens so taking the kids to a garden which is part of the scheme could give you a budget-friendly day out, and get the kids outdoors!

They’ve also got online talks so that you can listen to them from home (there is a small charge)!

They’ve also got volunteering opportunities, too! 

Their website has an excellent search facility to help you find the sort of garden you want to visit, so you can look for gardens with wheel-chair access, and which are dog friendly, and those which have refreshments and plants for sale.  You can look to see which gardens are open today, tomorrow, in the next 7 days and the next 28 days too!   And some gardens are open by arrangement.

 

Visit the National Garden Scheme's website here to find out more.