Why St Cuthbert’s Hospice support the National Garden Scheme

Laura has been working at St Cuthbert’s Hospice for over nine years. When we ask her how long the hospice has been involved with National Garden Scheme open gardens, she tells us that their annual event has been taking place for as long as she can remember:

“It’s been going here for years and years – it’s just one of the events that we do now, year in, year out. For us it’s like our Christmas Fair – just an established part of our calendar. 

“And I think because we’ve done it for so long, we've seen that opportunity to grow it in different ways.”

One of the chief benefits for Laura and her team – especially colleagues in fundraising – is the opportunity to bring people together at the hospice, in what Laura calls a ‘safe event.’ She explains:

“Getting people over that threshold, potentially for the very first time…it's a safe place for them to come and just have a little look around without feeling like they're intruding. For us, that’s a great opportunity."
 

There are of course a host of far-reaching benefits to a hospice from holding an open gardens. With hospices relying on anywhere from 60% - 85% of their income from fundraising, the day can be a welcome boost.

And whilst the monies raised from garden entry go to the National Garden Scheme, to be distributed amongst their beneficiary health charities – including Hospice UK – any other income from the day is kept by the hospice.

That’s why, says Laura, St Cuthbert’s open gardens is an invaluable source of income for them:

“Telling people about what a hospice is and what we do is fantastic. And we do generate a large amount of income from that day. We've got a coffee shop on site, and we get some extra volunteers in to run that and sell teas, coffees, cakes and cream teas.”
 

But it’s the gardeners, explains Laura, who are “simply amazing.” With extensive gardens at the hospice, they've been able to cleverly diversify income streams, all under their own steam: 

“We make and sell our own jams. We've got our own beehives. So if there's honey that has been harvested, we sell it at our open gardens. We press our own apples too so we can sell apple juice. 

“We've also got the veg garden, so we'll have a little veg stall. At our most recent National Garden Scheme open garden we sold 40 punnets of tomatoes – the gardeners told us that they couldn't keep up with demand! 

“Obviously outside of our open garden, we supply the kitchens with our fresh produce, so it goes straight into patient nutrition. But it’s a joy to open that up to our community and be able to say that this was grown right here at the hospice by our gardeners Gerry, Martin, Linda…the whole team…and it's just perfect.

“We’re so blessed that we are able to grow our own veg. Not every hospice would have that ability. But for us, it’s something that has grown over time.”
 

Another income generating activity at St Cuthbert’s open garden is their renowned plant sale. Whilst many of the plants on sale are grown by the gardening team on site, Laura says that they also reach out to local businesses to see if they’ll donate plants too:

“We try and grow as much as we can ourselves, but local businesses sometimes give us things like bedding plants. They don't want any thanks for it. It really helps that we've got those links in other ways with our community. 

“So that's an opportunity I think for other hospices who are thinking of holding an open garden – getting that corporate link with other places. You could reach out to a local garden centre and say look, we've got this going on, do you want to give us something and they could be thanked for it?”
 

But it's not just selling plants that brings in vital income from the event. One firm fan favourite for everyone involved with a National Garden Scheme open garden at St Cuthbert’s is a rather sweeter affair: the aptly-named ‘Cake Table.’

Laura explains how it’s literally become a sweet spot for the event:

“We ask our staff and volunteers if they’d like make a cake for the cake table – they just need to supply an allergen list and bring it in on the morning of the event. 

“We end up with probably three tables just full of cakes that people have baked and donated. This year we made £250 just from selling them!"
 

We know that bringing visitors into the hospice’s facilities for the first time is a brilliant opportunity to dispel myths about what hospice care is. Laura explains how gives them a chance to recruit sustainably: both new donors, and volunteers. 

“Our lottery promoter pitches up in reception. This year, she managed to sign up 15 people to our lottery. That’s amazing. And everyone who signed up are now people that we know.

“What’s fantastic about that is that every month we can rely on that support – that’s a longer, more sustainable relationship. 

“People also like donating to us by popping money into some large fundraising globes in our reception, and we have a wishing well where people can throw some money into as well – perhaps remembering someone they loved or were close to.

“Another upside to the open garden was that we had volunteer recruitment forms available, and we had six people get in touch after the event to say that they’d like to volunteer. Again, that's a long, sustainable relationship where people are committing to spend their time with us.

“So there are loads of avenues where an open garden can benefit you, not just in the short term, but the long term as well.”
 

The National Garden Scheme open gardens event at St Cuthbert’s is showing no signs of slowing down. In 2024, Laura says, they welcomed around 300 people. But in 2025, they broke the 400 barrier – a new record for them.

“This year was the first time that we've actually surveyed people on why they've come. Some were coming because they wanted to have a look at the new Garden of Compassion (relocated to St Cuthbert’s following the 2025 RHS Chelsea Flower Show).

“And many said they wanted to come to see the open garden, or support their local hospice too. Some told us that they had seen it listed in the NGS Gardens to Visit book, and hadn't been before.”

Laura says that having a good relationship with their local radio station also gave their promotion a boost:

“We're really lucky again that BBC Radio Newcastle do a gardening programme on a Sunday morning and the presenter invites us go on air to tell people about the event. Some people who came said that they had heard us on that show, which was lovely. 

“We’re part of Northumbria in Bloom every July, and we're really lucky that presenter used to be part of their judging panel. So she knows us and cares deeply about the hospice." 
 

Laura believes that even though the gardens at St Cuthbert’s are open to the public three days a week, it’s an event like the National Garden Scheme open gardens which gives people the safety net of paying a visit, when they might not normally feel confident enough to.

“People come from around the corner too, and are literally our neighbours. But they might not have visited us without the open gardens.”

Internally, it’s not just the gardeners and back office staff who love their open garden event:

“The nurses have said that they really like the event because there's a real buzz on the day, seeing people walking in the gardens and enjoying it. And of course, our patients and their families are always invited, too.”
 

With numerous garden areas, and a plethora of greenhouses, veg beds and even beehives to keep, the gardening team at St Cuthbert’s number well over 20 people – who all tirelessly give their time and energy to make the gardens a place of beauty and reflection.

That’s why, explains Laura, the open gardens are a lovely way to pay tribute to their volunteers, who get a chance to show their love of gardening, and handiwork at the hospice, to hundreds of visitors on the day: 

“It's a really nice event, with such lovely people. And for the gardeners, they really love talking to people. They're so passionate about the gardens and they love having their little station for the day and meeting people and talking about the gardens. Then the conversation might go on hospice care as well, and a lot of our volunteer gardeners, and volunteers, are the best placed people to talk about that, because they've experienced our care.”

Laura adds that a National Garden Scheme can be as big – or small – as you want it to be. For the ‘amazing bunch’ of gardeners at St Cuthbert’s, hundreds of hours were put into making sure the garden was in tip top condition – and all the preparation was logged, down to the quarter of the hour. It is this sense of pride that really drives the gardeners’ ambitions for the event. 

“Everybody is going to see your work, and you get to talk to them about what you've done. Often we’ll have proper garden fans coming along as well – which is another benefit to being part of the National Garden Scheme. They'll be asking the gardeners about the sort of varieties of plants, and other gardening questions."
 

Like Jocelyn, the Head Gardener at St Joseph’s Hospice, who told us about the success of their first National Garden Scheme event in 2025, an open gardens is typically led by the gardens team (or sometimes, a hospice's comms or engagement team). That could be a specific person, like a head gardener or coordinator, or like St Cuthbert’s, it could be a small team of nominated people: 

“The gardeners take the lead on it, but everyone's invited to the table. Our gardening team nominates a couple of spokespeople, and in turn they’re looked after by our central support team – two people who look after our estate maintenance. We'll have a few meetings prior to the event, going through the plan for the day. We’ll have someone from our comms team, one of our fundraising colleagues, someone from the kitchen, and a volunteer team rep too. 

“At the meetings, we just map out the day – this year we probably had about four meetings, and then a debrief meeting afterwards. I think that because of these, the event flowed really nicely.

“It’s not top heavy at all in terms of organising, and for us it's always been in the calendar.”
 

Around the UK, there are many opportunities to be part of local, or regional, open gardens, who are all raising money for good causes. But is there something that sets the National Garden Scheme apart? 

“With the National Garden Scheme, there's a feeling of prestige, if you like, because they have so many incredible locations on their roster. We're in the mix with some other really fabulous gardens.

“And they do give us lots of support, like marketing materials, signs to put up at your event, little pointy arrows and stuff like that. So it’s all done for you in that respect. 

“It's then a case of what you can add from your own resource. But for us, being in that little book (Garden Visitor’s handbook) and being on their website (find a garden) is just great, to have your name out there. You're going to get people who just love gardens and want to go to them.”

And for hospices who don’t currently open their gardens for the National Garden Scheme, now is a fantastic time to get involved. That’s because in 2027, the organisation marks their 100 year anniversary – and along with their beneficiary charities, will be making a huge communications and PR splash to celebrate. 

That’s an exciting chance for hospices to join a prestigious, national movement, and become part of a growing community of hospices who are having their gardens recognised alongside some of the country’s greatest gardens – over 3,500 of them.
 

We asked Laura whether St Cuthbert’s would like to see more hospices join them on the open gardens movement. For them, it’s an unequivocable ‘yes’, as there are so many benefits to holding one, that many hospices aren’t tapping into:

“It’s so important for us to just open the doors to the hospice and get people here. An open garden is our opportunity to tell them about what we do. 

“And there are just so many avenues to take: you can make it as big or as small as you like. We’ve obviously grown the event over the years, but it could be scaled back so that people get that entry ticket and come in, have a little look around and that's that.

“Either way, you're getting people to come to your hospice and have a look around. It's a really nice event: a lovely day, with lovely people. Everyone at hospice loves it. The nurses say that there's a real buzz around the day. We always have the tombola and everyone loves to have go on that."

But for Laura, it's not about the income, but about something deeper: bringing people together.

“Even when it's rained – which is the biggest risk for an open garden – it was actually really nice just seeing people wandering around with a colourful umbrella up.

“It would be fantastic if more hospices got involved and it did become a bit of a hospice thing, in the same way that many hospices always do a Light up a Life event each December…it’d be so lovely if we all did our own National Garden Scheme open gardens.”