About the NGS & where the money goes.

The National Gardens Scheme was set up in the early 1900's by several ladies who were concerned about home nursing care available in the poorer parts of London.  They decided to open their gardens to visitors who would pay an entrance fee to view their gardens and the money collected would help fund a properly trained nurse who would visit the sick in their homes.  This idea grew until the National Health Service took over the provision of District Nurses in 1947.  Today the NGS supports medical charities including Macmillan Cancer Support, Hospice UK, Carers Trust and Cavell Nurses Trust.  They also donated £150,000 to Perennial (a Charity which helps support professional gardeners in times of personal crisis).  A "Guest Charity" is chosen annually and Parkinson's UK received a donation of £172,000 in 2015.  The total donated in 2015 was £2.6 million, the proceeds of entrance fees to gardens all over the  country.  The garden owners give ALL the entrance money to the NGS (unless they elect to share it with another Charity, usually local) and refreshments money (less expenses where applicable) is also donated.  Many gardens also hold plant sales.

In these difficult economic times and particularly with the NHS stretched financially and with the volume of patients treated, the NGS Open Gardens scheme is more relevant than ever.  What better way to support these charities than to look around a pleasant garden and have a cup of tea and a piece of (usually) home made cake?  Mary Berry is the National Gardens Scheme President for 2016 but we can only offer cakes made to her recipe not by her personally!