Page 59 - ALG Issue 4 2014 Digital Edition

How a Kent Allotment raised over £600 for Charity
In June 2013 one of the Society’s members suggested that we open the site to the public as part of the NGS open days (as advertised in the Yellow Book)
to raise money for various charities and celebrate the work of plot holders and the Society as a whole. The plot holders have transformed an empty field to over 60 vibrant and active plots in the space of five years. A proposal was made to the management committee and they voted overwhelmingly to go ahead with the proposal.
Contact was made with the NGS and they agreed to come and visit the site almost immediately. They were very excited about the prospect of having an allotment site in their book. Their initial visit was very positive and within a week we heard back from them offering us a place in the Yellow Book. We quickly had to decide when we were going to open and the opening times etc. This was because the information had to go forward to the NGS Head Office by the end of August. We made contact with another garden that opened annually for the NGS and agreed to open the same weekend as them in July as it was felt this would encourage visitors to visit the two sites in the same afternoon.
At a later committee meeting it was decided to set up a sub-committee of interested plot holders to oversee the organisation of the Open Days because we very quickly realised there was going to be a lot of work involved. So early in 2014 we held our first meeting; our clubhouse was almost overflowing with members wanting to help and we organised ourselves into groups of people who would oversee the publicity, catering, site preparation, car parking, jobs list, who was doing what etc.
The main concern at the outset, was
where would visitors park. A suggestion was made of approaching the local council to seek permission to use the adjacent playing field. One of the members knew the right person to contact and this was quickly done. Thankfully, a few weeks before the Open Day we received the okay. Meanwhile all sorts of other preparations were made to ready the site for visitors. Two weeks before the Open Weekend a working party ‘day’ saw over 20 members volunteering their time, to clear weeds from pathways and the car park, tidy up overgrown hedges, spring clean the compost toilet and clubhouse and a host of other smaller tasks.
Everybody was then keeping their fingers crossed for fine weather for the weekend of 19th and 20th July and although on the first day the weather wasn’t as good as it had been in early July, the rain held off. Our first visitors arrived before the official opening time of 1pm and they were quickly followed by the local town Mayor and his wife, Mr
& Mrs Hutt and we also welcomed Susan Carey our local District Councillor. In all we had over 60 people visit us on the Saturday and we all went home reasonably pleased.
The following day, Sunday, the weather seemed to take a turn for the worse and at opening time a mist had come down.
It was not what we had hoped for or expected. However, it didn’t deter the garden and allotment enthusiasts and by 2.30pm we had exceeded the previous day’s number of visitors. They came from far and wide, every part of Kent and some from London and Sussex. Many were allotment holders themselves and some were just curious, interested gardeners
as well as local people wanting to know more about what was happening on their doorstep. The comments from visitors
to the members either on site working or
helping out with the organisation were always complimentary and members were able to take a lot of pride in what they had achieved individually and collectively.
The sale of teas and cakes was popular on both days as well as the sale of plants, which were all grown by a handful of members. We asked the local branch of the Samaritans Friends to man the tea stall on Saturday and they raised £180 for their funds. We managed the tea and cakes ourselves on Sunday and raised just over £300 for Society funds. The sale of plants raised another £170 and for the NGS we raised just short of £600. So we were all very pleased with the outcome. It had been a huge amount of work in preparing for the event and managing it over the two days. What made it worthwhile was the feedback from the general public, the camaraderie that developed between plot holders
and the fact that we made a significant amount of money for some very worthwhile charities.
The NGS themselves were very complimentary and grateful for our efforts and have encouraged us to take part again next year. As they reminded us the money raised by gardeners through the NGS makes a significant contribution to several charities and makes a real difference to people’s lives, so it is very rewarding to be a part of that.
The Committee, at their last meeting, agreed that it had been a great success and decided that we would do it again in 2015, only this time we would limit ourselves to opening on just one day, so watch this space for when!
Nick Lord Hawkinge A Society
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