Three private gardens across the Islands of Guernsey will be opening to the public this summer as part of the National Garden Scheme Open Gardens, all to raise money for nursing and health charities.
Enjoy exclusive access to the gardens at Castle Carey and Saumarez Park’s Victorian Walled Garden in Guernsey, and Le Grand Dixcart in Sark. The gardens offer glasshouses, walled gardens, ponds, sculptures and more, and will be open over two weekends - the 25th/26th June and 2nd/3rd July.
The National Garden Scheme (NGS) is working in partnership with the Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI). The NGS works to offer unique access to thousands of usually private gardens across Britain and in doing so raises valuable funding for nursing and health charities through admissions, teas and cakes. In 2021 the Scheme raised more than £3 million for its beneficiaries, which includes Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie and the QNI.
As the oldest professional nursing organisation in the UK, and believed to be the oldest nursing charity in the world, the QNI is dedicated to improving the nursing care of people in their home and in the community. There are seven Queen’s Nurses in the Bailiwick who were instrumental in helping the NGS facilitate the opening of the gardens locally, including Patricia McDermott (consultant clinical nurse specialist for urology) and Ellie Phillips (clinical nurse specialist for tissue viability and lymphoedema).
They said, ‘Never in our wildest dreams when we first met as a committee in 2019 could we have envisaged that within three years we would be hosting the very first gardens opening in Guernsey to benefit the National Garden Scheme. We are very excited to be welcoming visitors locally and nationally and raising the profile of Queen’s Nurses and the work they do to deliver healthcare to people in the community.’
Details for each opening are:
Castle Carey - Saturday 25 June from 12pm to 5pm (adults £5, children 16 and under free), home-made teas will be available.
The Victorian Walled Garden - Saturday 25 June and Saturday 2 July from 2pm to 5pm (adults £5, children free), light refreshments will be available.
Le Grand Dixcart - Saturday 25 June, Sunday 26 June, Saturday 2 July and Sunday 3 July from 11am to 3pm (adults £4, children £2), home-made teas will be available.
For more information visit ngs.org.uk/channel-islands-gardens.
