National Garden Scheme raises record sum for nursing and health charities
Howard Lake | 4 December 2025 | News
The National Garden Scheme has donated a record £3,875,596 to charities from funds gathered at garden openings throughout 2025.
The donations are helping thousands of people living with cancer, Parkinson’s, poor mental health, or the pressures of unpaid caring, by supporting the nurses, health professionals and case workers who care for them.
The National Garden Scheme gives visitors “unique, affordable access to over 3,500 exceptional private gardens” and raises substantial sums for nursing and health charities through admissions, teas and cake.
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Founded in 1927 to support district nurses, it is now “the most significant charitable funder of nursing in the UK”, and its beneficiaries include Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, Hospice UK and The Queen’s Nursing Institute.
The charity also highlights the physical and mental health benefits of gardens too. It funds projects which promote gardens and gardening as therapy, and in 2017, it launched its annual Gardens and Health Week to raise awareness of the topic.
In 2025 114 new gardens received Community Garden Grants, and five new nurse-led projects were funded through the NGS Elsie Wagg (Innovation) Scholarships, bringing vital support to many communities, often in areas of deprivation.
The scheme also continued to fund the training and welfare of gardeners, whose skills underpin horticulture throughout the country.
National Garden Scheme Chief Executive Dr Richard Claxton said:
“It’s nearly 100 years since our charity was formed to support district nursing, and our commitment to nursing care remains central. Long-term partnerships with Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, Parkinson’s UK, the Queen’s Institute of Community Nursing, Hospice UK and Carers Trust are the bedrock of our donation programme. With the lion’s share of this year’s donation; £2,725,000 going to these much-loved nursing and healthcare charities.
“As the NHS and Social Care sectors struggle to deal with the scale of need, the sustained funding from the National Garden Scheme allows these charities to continue the provision of critical community nursing services, end of life care, and respite for families and carers across the UK.”
Income sources
Although the National Garden Scheme relies primarily on the income generated by admission at its garden gates and through the sale of plants, teas and cake at these gardens, it also generates additional income from include donations, sponsorship and advertising, fundraising events and commercial partnerships.
Next year it expects to open over 3,300 gardens across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands.
Chief Executive Dr Richard Claxton added:
“Behind all this impact are the garden owners and volunteers whose enthusiasm and generosity of spirit makes garden visiting such a pleasure – and whose commitment makes our work possible. We are equally grateful to every visitor who, sometimes without realising it, helps improve so many lives”.
More details are available in its National Garden Scheme Impact Report 2025.
- National Garden Scheme to offer virtual visits (1 May 2020)
- National Garden Scheme and Macmillan celebrate 35 year partnerships (23 July 2019)
- CRUK Hampton Court Festival garden to focus on legacies (24 June 2019)
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.