Th E hIDDEN G ARDEN

By KATE hARRISON

The hidden Garden is a community gardening project helping and encouraging local people to become involved with growing fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers along with providing spaces for wildlife to thrive.

The garden is open to people of all ages and abilities in the Selsey community, organised by the Selsey Community Forum but looked after by a dedicated group of local volunteers. Situated next to the Academy Selsey School we run events and workshops to teach organic horticulture, wildlife gardening and sustainability. Regular gardening activities for young people take place throughout the year and we share produce with elder local residents who attend activities in the garden. we encourage people to share and swap spare seeds, plants and gardening equipment throughout the year and we have a variety of perennial plants available for a donation to our visitors. we share our space with Selsey Men in Sheds who make innovative wooden garden items and the charity youth Dream who provide educational and support services to young people in our area. If you visit our garden, you will find lots of ideas and ways to grow fresh organic vegetables, fruit and herbs along with a variety of wildlife habitats and ways to increase biodiversity in gardens of all sizes. There is partial wheelchair access over grass paths.

The hidden Garden is open for the National Garden Scheme on Sun 30 Apr, Sun 30 July (10.30-4.30). Admission £5, children free. Tea. Pre-book on the National Garden Scheme website https://ngs.org.uk or pay on the day.

The National Garden Scheme was founded in 1927 by The Queen’s Nursing Institute to raise money for district nurses. Ever since then it has given annual donations to nursing and health charities totalling over £67 million. It gives visitors unique, affordable access to over 3,500 exceptional private gardens in England, wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands and raises impressive amounts through admission charges and the sale of tea and cake. Thanks to the generosity of garden owners, volunteers and visitors we are now the most significant charitable funder of nursing in the UK. As well as the Queen’s Nursing Institute, our beneficiaries include Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, hospice UK and Parkinson’s UK.

The National Garden Scheme doesn’t just open beautiful gardens for charity – we are passionate about the physical and mental health benefits of gardens too. we fund projects which promote gardens and gardening as therapy, and in 2016 commissioned The Kings Fund report Gardens and health Our Gardens and Coronavirus 2020: The importance of gardens and outdoor spaces during lockdown report was published in September 2020.

To date we have given out grants to almost 200 projects, with the total amount donated just shy of £400,000. The hidden Garden received a grant in 2020.

For other west Sussex gardens opening for the National Garden Scheme this spring visit https://ngs.org.uk, or use the following link https://ngs.org.uk/west-sussex-spring-gardens/ The sussex national garden scheme 2023 Booklet is now available online or at many local outlets. The hidden garden is a community garden in selsey and it is opening for the national garden scheme on sunday 30th April and sunday 30th July.

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