NEWS: Flete Estate Open Gardens raises record amount for patient care
The sun was shining on Flete Estate at the beginning of the month for our Open Garden, as we raised a record amount for patient care.
1058 visitors were treated to exclusive access to the private and historic estate in Ivybridge on Sunday 2 July, spending the day exploring the Italianate gardens, shrubbery and water gardens under blue skies and brilliant sunshine.
The afternoon raised an incredible £9,030 for patient care, £2,350 more than in 2015, when we last held an Open Garden at Flete Estate.
A big part of the total came from the selection of delicious cakes that had been donated, making an amazing £2,864.10 towards the total for the day. Raffle, plant and merchandise sales all helped contribute to the final amount as well.
Special thanks to all the volunteers who worked hard to make the day run so smoothly, especially those who were helping out at the Neon Midnight Walk the previous night. We even had submariners from HMS Vanguard and staff from the Land Registry Office helping out as parking volunteer marshals.
The historic estate was used by the city of Plymouth as a maternity hospital during and after the Second World War; with many attendees on the day having actually been born there themselves.
If you couldn’t make it to the Flete Open Gardens this year, then we will be planning to open Flete Estate Gardens again in 2019.
St Luke’s Open Gardens will be continuing throughout August and September, with upcoming gardens including Diptford Village Walkabout on Sunday 6 August between 1.30pm and 5.30pm, Alpine House in Bere Ferrers on Sunday 13 August between 11am and 4pm, Blanksmill in West Alvington on Sunday 3 September between 2pm and 5pm and Lower Charaton Cottage in Pensilva, Cornwall, on Sunday 10 September between 2pm and 5pm. We also have a selection of private gardens opening by appointment up until early November. To see the full Open Garden listings click here.
