A legacy to be proud of
Charlie Bullough looks at George Plumptre’s decade at the top of the National Garden Scheme
The boss of the National Garden Scheme will have no trouble recollecting his twin anniversaries in the industry given the year that we have just had.
George Plumptre has just celebrated a decade at the helm of the charity, which raises money for nursing and health charities.
The chief executive also clocked up 40 years in gardening in 2020 and has written about the subject for national newspapers and magazines.
But 2020 has been far from a party for George as coronavirus stopped the National Garden Scheme (NGS) from opening 3,700 private gardens to the public for the first time since its inception. Another unwanted first was the organisation had to reduce the amount promised to its beneficiary charities at the beginning of the year.
George said: “Never, since the NGS was founded in 1927, had our gardens been forced to shut. They even remained open during the Second World War, so to say that the impact of the coronavirus pandemic was enormous is no understatement.”
He added: “I certainly did not expect my tenth anniversary to be marked by a watershed of the magnitude of coronavirus and its challenges have been immense. On March 22, for the first time in our 93-year history all gardens were forced to close, and they did not reopen again until the end of May.”
However, enterprising garden owners saw a way to bring the beauty of their cultivated borders and lawns to those in lockdown.
George said: “Like other charities, the NGS very quickly demonstrated extraordinary qualities of tenacity and adaptability. Unable to welcome visitors physically to their gardens, our owners made short videos which we posted online on a weekly basis. By the time the gardens reopened we had built up a library of 182 films, which had been viewed 650,000 times and produced donations of some £250,000. And, when gardens reopened it was with a totally new and very restrictive system of pre-booked tickets and limited numbers. But our garden owners adapted with wonderful determination and for these and many other reasons, we ended the year in a healthier state than anyone would have expected.”
During George’s ten years in the job, income from gardens has increased from £3 million to £4 million despite the number of open gardens remaining pretty constant. And net funds available for beneficiaries has risen from £2.5 million to £3.3 million.
But one thing that the pandemic did was to open the eyes of many to the importance of gardens and green spaces. That’s something which George and his organisation have been extolling for many years.
He said: “Coronavirus has brought real sadness and hardship for many in the National Garden Scheme and our beneficiaries, but in numerous ways our response has made me enormously proud and demonstrated our ability to change. One major outcome of the pandemic which I am certain will last and which the National Garden Scheme is uniquely positioned to nurture and champion, has been the huge public acknowledgement of the importance of people having access to gardens or outdoor green space. Faced with uncertainty, isolation and in many cases real tragedy, people discovered the extraordinary rewards offered either by their own gardens or by having access to somewhere, whether a public green space, or a shared community area.” He sees this championing of the health benefits of gardens as perhaps the most significant development he has brought to the National Garden Scheme. In 2016 the charity commissioned a report called: ‘Gardens and Health: implications for policy and practice’.
George said: “The report has become the acknowledged point of reference for the subject and enabled us to launch a range of initiatives which have grown ever since. On the one hand we launched a new Gardens and Health strand of our donations policy, awarding annual donations to charities to build gardens to provide health and wellbeing benefits, such as Horatio’s Gardens for spinal injury units. On the other, our community of garden owners have increasingly embraced the concept of gardens being good for everyone’s health, both for themselves and as a cornerstone of their welcome to visitors.”
The report also influenced the National Garden Scheme’s focus on developing the diversity of its gardens, like allotments and community green spaces.
Gardens and Health also provided an impetus for the National Garden Scheme’s move into the territory of influencing – both public attitudes and policy making. In 2019 it commissioned a report called Investing in Quality about the contribution of large charities to shaping future health and care.
And as the NGS’ centenary nears, George believes the charity will reach it in fine health and maintain its rich traditions of access for all and helping health charities.
He said: “Today, we are positioned to champion the importance of gardens to society as a whole, at the same time as continuing to grow the virtuous circle of offering people the enjoyment of a garden visit to raise funds for our beneficiaries who are so fundamental to the health of the nation.”