Editing National Garden Scheme

{{Short description|Charity fundraising event}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2020}}
[[File:Thakeham Place, West Sussex.jpg|alt=Summer border at Thakeham Place, West Sussex|thumb|Summer border at Thakeham Place, West Sussex]]
The '''National Garden Scheme''' opens privately owned gardens in England, Northern Ireland, Wales, and the Channel Islands on selected dates for charity. It was founded in 1927 with the aim of "opening gardens of quality, character and interest to the public for charity". The scheme has raised over £67 million since it began, and normally opens over 3,500 gardens a year.<ref name=yellow>"Yellow Book" (2008). National Gardens Scheme.</ref>

Volunteer County Organisers are responsible for vetting gardens to make sure they are of sufficient interest.<ref name=monitor>[https://web.archive.org/web/20131105225047/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-85013577.html Follow the yellow guide road to great British gardens: Private gardens open for charity under the National Gardens Scheme and Scotland's Gardens Scheme]. (Features) (Homefront). ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]''. 2002. Retrieved via [[HighBeam Research]].</ref>
When the scheme began 609 private gardens were opened and £8,191 was raised.  A small number of the original "1927" gardens still participate in the Scheme, while many more have joined. Over 3,700 gardens were due to open in 2020 but the impact of [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom|COVID-19]] meant that most openings were cancelled. However, new online virtual garden tours were introduced.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Virtual garden visits |url=https://ngs.org.uk/virtual-garden-visits/}}</ref> 

To help boost funds after COVID-19, the National Garden Scheme set up an annual fundraising event called [https://ngs.org.uk/gardenparty/ The Great British Garden Party], encouraging everyone to enjoy outdoor spaces while raising money for the charity and championed by the charity's President, [https://ngs.org.uk/who-we-are/our-people/honorary-officers/ Dame Mary Berry.]

The National Garden Scheme not only opens beautiful gardens for charity – it is passionate about the physical and mental health benefits of gardens too. The Scheme funds projects which promote gardens and gardening as therapy, and in 2017, launched an annual [https://ngs.org.uk/gardens-and-health-week/ Gardens and Health Week] to raise awareness of the topic. 

Visitor information is published in a publication called ''The Garden Visitor's Handbook'' (formerly the Yellow Book). There is another Yellow Book for the separate [[Scotland's Gardens]] scheme.<ref name="monitor" />

==Charities supported==
Originally the admission fees raised money for [[district nurse]]s, although the creation of the [[National Health Service (England)|National Health Service]] in 1948 changed the nature of the support required.
In 1980, the National Garden Scheme Charitable Trust was launched as an independent charity with [[Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon|Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother]] as patron. The current patron is [[Charles, Prince of Wales|Charles, the former Prince of Wales]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Honorary officers |url=https://ngs.org.uk/who-we-are/our-people/honorary-officers/ |access-date=2023-07-05 |website=National Garden Scheme |language=en-GB}}</ref>  
The [[Queen's Nursing Institute]] is still one of the charities supported, along with [[Marie Curie (charity)|Marie Curie]], [[Macmillan Cancer Support]], [https://www.hospiceuk.org/ Hospice UK], [[Parkinson's UK]], [[Carers Trust]], [[Maggie's Centres|Maggie's]], [https://www.horatiosgarden.org.uk/ Horatio's Garden], [https://perennial.org.uk/ Perennial], and others that support gardening as therapy, community gardens and horticultural trainees. The National Garden Scheme runs a [https://ngs.org.uk/who-we-are/community-garden-grants/ Community Gardens Grant] programme to support health and well-being in communities around the country. 

You can read about the charity's impact in their [https://ngs.org.uk/who-we-are/reports/ annual Impact Reports here.]

==See also==
*[[Scotland's Gardens]]
*[[Golf Course Allotments]] is an example of a site opened each year to the public.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*''The Yellow Book, 2014: ngs gardens open for charity''. London: National Gardens Scheme

==External links==
{{Commons category|Gardens open under the National Gardens Scheme}}
* [https://ngs.org.uk/ National Garden Scheme website]

[[Category:1927 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Gardening in England]]
[[Category:Gardening in Wales]]
[[Category:Awards established in 1927]]
[[Category:Charities based in Surrey]]
[[Category:Guildford]]
[[Category:Garden festivals in England]]
[[Category:Garden festivals in Wales]]