We’re delighted to be celebrating 27 years of partnership with the National Garden Scheme. In that time over £10.5 million has been donated to help people living with a terminal illness and their loved ones across the UK.
The National Garden Scheme gives visitors unique access to over 3,500 exceptional private gardens in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Channel Islands. They raise impressive amounts of money for nursing and health charities, including Marie Cuire, through admissions, teas, and cake.
The National Garden Scheme doesn’t just open beautiful gardens for charity – they are also passionate about the physical and mental health benefits of gardens. Their Gardens and Health programme raises awareness of this, and every year their Little Yellow Book of Gardens and Health celebrates the good of gardening and encourages everyone to embrace the positivity of green spaces.
This year we were delighted to open three of our Hospice gardens to the public through the National Garden Scheme for the first time since the pandemic. Our hospices in Newcastle, West Midlands and Hampstead all opened their garden gates, with visitors able to enjoy the calm and peaceful spaces that are so important to patients, families and staff.
Maria Haughey, Deputy Head of Operations at Marie Curie said: “We were delighted here at the Marie Curie Hospice West Midlands o be once again opening our gardens to the National Garden Scheme. It was also a great opportunity for us as a hospice to welcome visitors who may have never visited our hospice before and for them to see the beautiful environment of our hospice".
We look forward to more of our Marie Curie Hospice gardens opening as part of the National Garden Scheme in the future.
The NGS Nightingale Challenge is a bespoke leadership challenge for Marie Curie Nurses and other members of our caring services staff. Inspired by The Nursing now Challenge (formerly the Nightingale Challenge), the programme is unique to Marie Curie and supports the next generation of healthcare leaders in palliative and end of life care. It is fully funded by the National Garden Scheme.
The programme launched in 2021 and so far 34 Marie Curie Nurses and Caring Services staff have completed the programme. This year saw the biggest demand for places, with 20 delegates signed up to the 23-24 programme, each with their own mentor.
“During the past 9 months, I have developed a greater confidence in the way I communicate – both written and verbally. The Challenge has encouraged me to work outside my comfort zone and provided an extra ‘push’ to develop confidence in my role.” Jessica, Nurse Manager, Scotland.
We continue to be grateful to the National Garden Scheme for funding this vital programme for our Marie Curie Nurses and Caring Services staff.
Whether it’s visiting your local NGS garden, or even opening the gates to your own much loved garden there are many ways you can support our partnership with the National Garden Scheme. Find a garden near you on the NGS website.
Visit the NGS websiteThere are loads of great ways to get involved!