You don’t run and walking isn’t really your thing, but you’d like to raise money for St Christopher’s and possess green fingers and the garden to prove it.
That’s the position in which avid gardener Jo Hopkins found herself in 2018, a year after the death of her father-in-law Arthur Hopkins who’d supported the hospice for more than 30 years as a thank-you for the care they’d provided his wife Mary, who died there in 1981.
In the years since, she’s raised more than £18,000 for St Christopher’s welcoming people into her 160ft Beckenham garden as part of the Open Garden scheme. Three hundred visited on the first occasion alone.
Jo’s now so enthusiastic about the scheme she’s taken on responsibility for managing it with her fellow horticulturalist Myra Bright, (watch Myra’s video here) and is on the hunt for more South East London gardeners keen to show their blooms and raise valuable funds for St Christopher’s.
So far, Jo and Myra have lined up 12 gardens that will open for a day each between April and September, but there’s potential for many more.
“There will be gardens of all kinds, large and small. Some with wonderful spring flowers, one with a wonderful wisteria. Some people provide fabulous cakes and tea, but it’s not obligatory to do that.
“I know it can feel quite daunting the first time, and you might be out there tweaking and snipping the night before while worrying that no one will turn up. But I assure you, that when you open the garden gate people will come and they’ll love your garden.
Jo’s love of gardening started early, growing narcissi and nasturtiums at primary school in Bermondsey. Encouraged by her green-fingered grandmother and mother she’s never looked back.
Due to essential work on the conservatory, Jo won’t be opening her own garden this year, but she and Myra – along with their newly recruited team of volunteers – will be on hand to help any open garden debutants.
“We were told that one of the things putting people off opening their gardens was not having support on the day. So, we went on Facebook in lots of local groups and have now got 30 people on board including some mums with young children and a young man keen to learn about gardening.”
“My husband John and I have also met so many lovely people through our openings.”
“Gardening is my happy place. When I’m gardening, I don’t think about anything else, I just find it meditative. Particularly in the winter, I just love it out there.”
The volunteer open garden team have already met up at St Christopher’s and are now ready and raring to go.
Now, for more gardens…Jo and Myra are employing all possible means to sign them up. They’ve knocked on doors, approached the owner of a smart looking front garden on Christmas Eve and have a network of garden designers primed to tip them off about new candidates.
“St Christopher’s is such a good, caring place. Opening the garden you get people who’ll come because they’ve known someone who has been cared for there, or they just love gardens, or often both. You can charge people to come in or just ask for donations which is what I do.
So, whether you’d like to open your garden, however large or small, or support others opening theirs, contact Jo Hopkins by emailing her at jhoppo47@gmail.com
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