St Luke’s Open Garden Scheme 2021

By Wayne Marshall, Community Fundraiser and Open Garden Coordinator

With last year’s Open Garden events for St Luke’s Hospice being cancelled we all missed getting together to enjoy the beautiful gardens in our communities. I would like to thank all those who made voluntary donations to the work of St Luke’s in lieu of the gardens being cancelled.

For 2021 we have organised a varied schedule for this summer season which currently includes 16 garden dates between April and September. We will endeavour to open this year’s gardens wherever possible but only if it is deemed safe and legal to do so. On occasions, there may be opportunities to view a virtual tour of some of our gardens. Although, not quite the same as the real thing, I hope you will enjoy these and continue to support the work of your local hospice. This season you will need to visit the St Luke’s Hospice website and select the garden you plan to visit, then book and pay for your allocated day and time slot. You will also find a link with a chance to win an original Brian Pollard canvas generously painted and donated to St Luke’s Open Garden scheme by Brian, one of our hospice patrons. Before visiting any of the open gardens, you must check the Government website for national and local Covid-19 guidelines.

The clinical team at St Luke’s has been extremely busy throughout 2020 and 2021, with a greatly increased workload due to the impact of the pandemic. Our charity shops have had to close for prolonged periods and many fundraising events were cancelled which had a serious effect on income. Over two thirds of St Luke’s running costs are funded by charitable giving, so any donations you can spare will really help to make a difference. Thank you for your help and I look forward to seeing you at our open gardens this season.

For up-to-date details about participating open gardens and to book a time slot please visit www.stlukes-hospice.org.uk/opengardens