Visit Local Gardens To Support Hospice Care

Enjoy some beautiful local gardens this spring and summer with Phyllis Tuckwell’s Open Gardens. Local green-fingered residents will once again be swinging open their garden gates to support hospice care in our community, and for a small fee you are invited to wander around the gardens, soaking up the atmosphere and maybe taking away a few ideas to try out on your own green spaces at home.

Open Gardens will be running from June to August, and will include gardens of different sizes and designs, from cottage gardens to larger plots and even a woodland walk. Some of the residents will also be selling refreshments and some will have plants for sale too. Others will be running a tombola, with all the proceeds going to Phyllis Tuckwell. Many of the gardens are wheelchair-friendly and some welcome well behaved dogs on leads.

All of the money raised by this event will go directly towards helping fund the supportive and end of life care that Phyllis Tuckwell provides for local patients and families who are living with an advanced or terminal illness, such as cancer. Every day it supports over 250 patients, relatives and carers – in their own homes, in the community, at the Hospice in Farnham and at the Beacon Centre in Guildford – but as the NHS/Government usually only covers about 20% of its costs, it has to raise over £25,000 a day to do this. Phyllis Tuckwell’s last Open Gardens event in 2019 raised almost £10,000, enough to pay for one of its Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNSs) for two months. Its CNSs visit patients and families in their own homes. They assess patients’ needs, provide physical and psychological care, assist with advance care planning, offer advice on managing complex symptoms, provide access to information and therapies tailored to each individual’s needs and those of their family or carer, and are always on the end of the phone if a patient or relative needs advice or reassurance.

“After a three year wait due to the pandemic, we are delighted that generous private garden owners are once again opening up their gardens for us to welcome and inspire visitors, whilst supporting the hospice care we provide for local patients and their families,” said Charli Quay-Barnham, Community Fundraising Manager at Phyllis Tuckwell. “All of the gardens are listed in our Open Gardens brochure, which can be downloaded from our website, or you can pick up a copy in our Phyllis Tuckwell shops.”