Wild About Gardens Volunteers - December Update

Where did that year go! We had so many positives in a year when the country was going through so many ups and downs.  In our September contribution, I mentioned our new venture this year “Open Gardens”; well here are some very interesting facts to round off the year.   

In total we ran 8 open gardens attended by 240 guests overall. Quite a few were KWT members & had heard about the scheme via KWT publicity. However, as our own volunteer comms team developed, creating and displaying posters, using social media and writing articles for their local parish councils and gardening groups, the interest grew and bookings increased as the word spread. We measured our success with this project partly by the repeat visits but also we generated approx. £1200 income for the study day programme and received an extra £137.58 from people paying on the door or putting money in our donations tin. Volunteers working behind the scenes donating plants for sale at these events also generated a further £157.20 at the last 2 events. So that’s almost £1500 extra income to KWT, one person has also joined KWT as a result of our events. To borrow the phrase from a well know supermarket “every little helps”.  

On the 3rd October some of our volunteers had a stall at the Sunken Garden's Eco Gathering Day in Margate.  Another first.  The day helped to spread the word about what wildlife conservation was all about in the area.  The day was part of the Margate NOW festival, an annual event which is very popular. It was a fun collaboration with the commissioned festival artists, Sunken Garden volunteers as well as the wildlife organisations. On the WAG stand at the event, Julia showed her mini ponds and aquarium stimulating lots of discussion about the possibility of incorporating water into small gardens.  We are looking forward to going again in 2022! 

So, I hear you ask, what are our plans for 2022?   

Several of our team are already booked to give talks on a variety of topics. There are five zoom workshops for the public already in the diary and the last details of the presentations are being worked on. Numbers of attendees are limited so if you know anyone who would be interested in attending, please direct them to our page on the website here: https://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/wilder-gardens. Might be an idea for a Christmas present? 

Following the success of this year, there are already eight Open Gardens booked in, three of which will be new. One evening opening will even include a Bat walk. Volunteer training, in person and possibly via zoom will continue – there is always something new to learn to help us promote Wildlife Gardening.  

View our upcoming winter workshops here

On behalf of the Wild About Gardens team, Merry Christmas and a Happy and peaceful 2022.