Simmondley Gardeners celebrate 20 years of opening their garden for Charity

At the recent spring meeting of the National Garden Scheme in Derbyshire, Peter and Christina Harris were presented with a trowel in recognition of their 20 years of opening their garden for the scheme.

Over the years the green fingered couple have raised over £17,000 for the nursing and healthcare charity beneficiaries of the National Garden Scheme, as well as supporting The Donkey Sanctuary, another cause close to their hearts.

The Derbyshire County Organiser, Hildegard Wieshofer, said ‘Anyone who has ever opened their garden will know that it’s a lot of hard work, and we are very grateful to Peter and Christina for their support for an amazing 20 years’

Peter and Christina’s garden ‘High Roost’ will be open on Sunday the 29th of June.

The National Garden Scheme gives visitors unique access to some 3,500 exceptional private gardens in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands, and raises impressive amounts of money for some of the UK's best-loved nursing and health charities through admissions, teas and cake.

Thanks to the generosity of garden owners, volunteers and visitors we have donated more than £74 million to our beneficiary charities, and in 2024 made donations of over £3.5 million. Founded in 1927 to support district nurses, we are now the most significant charitable funder of nursing in the UK and our beneficiaries include Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, Hospice UK and The Queen’s Nursing Institute.

The National Garden Scheme doesn’t just open beautiful gardens for charity – we are passionate about the physical and mental health benefits of gardens too. We fund projects which promote gardens and gardening as therapy, and in 2017, we launched our annual Gardens and Health Week to raise awareness of the topic. Our funding also supports the training of gardeners and offers respite to horticultural workers who have fallen on difficult times.

To find your perfect garden, visit ngs.org.uk, download the National Garden Scheme app or purchase the National Garden Scheme’s Garden Visitor’s Handbook, which is published annually and available via ngs.org.uk/shop and at all good book retailers.

For more see www.ngs.org.uk