Ilston Open Gardens
Like the sun, which gloriously greeted the Illston Open Gardeners on that Saturday morning of April 30th, the generosity of the British public who came out in their droves to visit our gardens also shone through. We collected in excess of £3000, and counting, for the Ukraine Appeal! This is an excellent result from a relatively small village of only 40 houses.
A visitor of Ukrainian birth complemented our gardening efforts. He arrived at the pay desk at the entrance to the village and upon seeing all the Ukrainian flags which bedecked the counter, his emotions overcame him and with national pride he openly wept and once recovered continued to thank all of us profusely.
All our planning a preparation of the eight gardens, which were open, were greatly appreciated by our enthusiastic British public, especially by some who were evidently very experienced gardeners in their own right. We had some knowledgeable visitors asking whether we had considered opening our gardens under the umbrella of the National Garden Scheme (who nationally raise in excess of £3m annually for Marie Curie, Macmillan Nurses and Parkinson’s). High praise indeed!
Finally a Big Thank you to everyone who supported our little Open Gardens Event. Thank you to all the Open gardeners for all their hard work and endeavour. Thank you to all you visitors, to fellow gardeners who made the day so special and who gave us here in Illston the opportunity to raise much needed funds for the Ukraine Appeal. And thank you to our sponsors and to the Kibworth Chronicle for spreading the message far and wide. We appreciate all your help.
Happy Gardening!
Robert Longhill, Chairman of the Illston Open Gardens Committee
www.kibworthchronicle.com
On the Edge Picture Framing
