Celebrating our volunteers and their spirit of generosity in Volunteers Week 2025

In Volunteers Week (2-8 June) the National Garden Scheme is celebrating its amazing family of volunteers. The success of the National Garden Scheme, and the significant amounts of money it donates to its beneficiaries, would not be possible without the dedicated support of the charity’s garden owners and its volunteers. In 2024, 3,372 gardens opened for the Scheme supported by 582 volunteers all sharing their incredible enthusiasm, expertise and generosity which is at the heart of everything the charity achieves.

“Whether a garden opens once or over a number of decades every garden is important,” says Chairman, Rupert Tyler. “We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to all of our garden owners and all the volunteers who support them. Without their combined dedication and passion we would not have become the most significant funder of nursing charities in the UK or been able to give £3,501,227 to our beneficiaries in 2024. And, as we head towards our centenary year in 2027, we would like to thank everyone who has helped create such a vibrant, inspiring and enduring community that gives so much pleasure to visitors and raises so much money for good causes.”

Volunteers take on a number of roles from Trustees, county organisers and treasurers to publicity and social media support, each one ensuring the smooth running of National Garden Scheme garden openings. Many bake cakes and support individual garden openings too.

Here’s what some of our fabulous volunteers say:

You can read more from our garden owners and volunteers in the latest edition of the Little Yellow Book of Gardens and Health – click here to find out more.

One of the fabulous perks of volunteering for the National Garden Scheme is the opportunity to support the charity at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show (and other RHS shows) during the year. Watch the video below from 2024 for a taster of the role of volunteers and their importance to the charity.