National Garden Scheme Announces Record Donation and New Joint Initiative

This week the National Garden Scheme (NGS) announced record donations to nursing and caring charities, totalling £3.1m.

£250,000 will be donated to the Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI), enabling the charity to give professional development support to Queen’s Nurses working in diverse specialties in communities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Funding from the NGS also enables the QNI to run its leadership development programme for QNs.

Dr Crystal Oldman CBE, the QNI’s chief executive commented:

‘I would like to thanks all garden owners on behalf of the QNI for their passion and commitment and the funds they raise every year. We are thrilled at this generous contribution which will help us support more Queen’s Nurses, who serve as leaders and role models in nursing practice, to deliver care to those who need it most.’

George Plumptre, chief executive of the National Garden Scheme said:

‘It has been another record breaking year and we are extremely pleased to be able to fund even more vital work in the areas that we are passionate about: nursing, gardens and health, and support for training gardeners. Nursing has never needed our support more than at the moment and I am delighted that some of our funding is continuing to support special training and career development for a variety of nurses.’

New Joint Initiative

The National Garden Scheme also announced a pioneering joint initiative to contribute support to community and specialist nursing services in the UK. The initiative will bring together the expertise and insights of  The Queen’s Nursing Institute, Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie UK, Hospice UK, Parkinson’s UK and MS Society UK – six of the UK’s most respected nursing and healthcare charities.

Commenting on the initiative, George Plumptre said; ‘In the 70th anniversary of the NHS we are extremely proud that the National Garden Scheme’s funding of nursing goes back to many years earlier. We and our nursing beneficiaries feel that the 70th anniversary is the ideal occasion to set out a vision for community and specialist nursing that will champion the role of nurses and give the general public the kind of nursing care they are asking for.’

Dr Oldman said, ‘The National Garden Scheme is perfectly placed to bring together these six charities, all of which it supports, to provide collaborative leadership for the future. While we all work together in the field, this will be the first time that we have come together over a major issue of policy and the National Garden Scheme’s initiative will prove a vital catalyst for demonstrating the role of nurses in the community.’

More details about the initiative will be announced in the summer.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Since 1927, the National Garden Scheme has been inviting garden owners to open their gardens to the public, giving people unique access while raising money for charity. Thanks to the generosity of garden owners, volunteers and visitors, the NGS is the most significant charitable funder of nursing charities in the UK, having donated over £50m over the last 90 years. There are over 3700 gardens open to the public in 2018, all of which can be found on the NGS website.

Matthew Bradby, the QNI’s Head of Communications will open his garden in London for the National Garden Scheme on 7 July 2018.