The National Gardens Scheme is an award scheme in England and Wales. It was founded in 1927 in England with the aim of "opening gardens of quality, character and interest to the public for charity". Originally, the money was raised to provide pension support for district nurses; 609 private gardens were opened and £8,191 was raised.
Over time, other charities were included in the scheme. In 1948, the new National Health Service took over the paying of pensions to district nurses, and in 1980, the National Gardens Scheme Charitable Trust was launched, with Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother as patron. The current patron is Charles, Prince of Wales. The gardens open to the public under the scheme are listed each year in publication called "The Yellow Book". The scheme has raised over £40 million since it began, and over half a million garden visits occur each year.
The National Gardens Scheme is featured in a Twofour produced BBC2 programme Open Gardens.
Famous quotes containing the words national, gardens and/or scheme:
“Humanism, it seems, is almost impossible in America where material progress is part of the national romance whereas in Europe such progress is relished because it feels nice.”
—Paul West (b. 1930)
“Within the memory of many of my townsmen the road near which my house stands resounded with the laugh and gossip of inhabitants, and the woods which border it were notched and dotted here and there with their little gardens and dwellings, though it was then much more shut in by the forest than now.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“We doubt not the destiny of our country—that she is to accomplish great things for human nature, and be the mother of a nobler race than the world has yet known. But she has been so false to the scheme made out at her nativity, that it is now hard to say which way that destiny points.”
—Margaret Fuller (1810–1850)