The National Gardens Scheme Helps Marie Curie Grow and Bloom

As The National Gardens Scheme (NGS) celebrates 85 years of gardening and charitable giving, Marie Curie celebrates its 16 year partnership with the scheme and the £6 million of donations this has generated for the charity.

The NGS raises money by opening more than 3,800 private gardens of character from March to October each year and donating the entrance fee to charity. The NGS gave away more than £2.6 million in 2011 to nursing, caring and gardening charities and is Marie Curie’s largest single annual donor. The money raised through the scheme supports Marie Curie Nurses to provide more free care to people with terminal cancer and other illnesses in their own homes.

Honor Wright, Marie Curie Nurse, said: “Many people I care for love their gardens and have put lots of work in over the years, so they want to enjoy them while they are at home. “I once cared for a man who used to be a gardener but he lived on the 7th floor of a block of flats.

When he became ill, he would lie in his bed at home and look down at the window to see the garden he had tended. When he was no longer able to go down and visit the garden with me, we used to watch videos of the garden together that he had filmed in previous years. I also remember bringing another patient’s bed downstairs to the drawing room so she could see out into her garden.

She used to love sitting in the conservatory, looking at her lovely flowers with the birds coming right up to the house where we would give them food. I think that gardens mean a lot to people because there is always something new happening in nature and the seasons are
ever-changing. I always say you have to live until you die and I think that gardens give people a lot of joy in their last days of their life at home.”

Last year alone the NGS donated over half a million pounds to Marie Curie, the equivalent of 25,000 hours of free nursing care. This ensured that Marie Curie Nurses could look after more people in their own homes. To get help from the Marie Curie Nursing Service, talk to your GP, district nurse or discharge nurse. For more information visit www.mariecurie.org.uk

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