Garden treat to say thank you to Yorkshire family carers
To help celebrate its 25 years’ of support and fundraising for Carers Trust, the National Garden Scheme’s Havoc Hall, near Oswaldkirk opened its beautiful gardens for a free visit for family carers from Scarborough and Ryedale. The visit helped unpaid carers get a much-needed break from the pressure of their caring role at home.
The visit was part of a wider initiative to help unpaid carers get a break from the pressures of providing round-the-clock care for a family member unable to look after themselves.
The carers were given a guided walk through the garden by the garden owner, then chatted with other carers while enjoying tea and cakes in glorious natural surroundings.
The visit to Havoc Hall by carers from Scarborough and Ryedale is part of a special programme of visits around the country. As restrictions continue to ease, the National Garden Scheme is generously opening its gardens to groups of unpaid carers from Carers Trust network of frontline carers charities for free, covid-secure, visits by prior arrangement.
The visits follow a National Garden Scheme survey which found that 87%* of people responding to the survey said that having access to a garden or outdoor space during the lockdown had helped them relieve stress.
The days out are also being organised to help mark the National Garden Scheme’s twenty-five years of support for Carers Trust and unpaid carers. Over that time, funding from the National Garden Scheme has helped Carers Trust to support around 438,000 unpaid carers a year through its network of local partner services, including Carers Plus Yorkshire.
And in the last year, donations from the National Garden Scheme have been used to provide emergency grants to an estimated 18,000 unpaid carers, helping them to buy otherwise unaffordable items like fridges, washing machines and respite breaks, helping carers cope with the impact of the lockdown.
The unpaid carers got a short break from their caring role, and thoroughly enjoyed their visit together. One of them said: “This is only the second time for months we’ve met in person due to the pandemic, we appreciate and enjoy meeting each other as a group. We can share what we’re going through with no embarrassment as everyone understands what it’s like to be a carer – we all support each other.”
“The National Garden Scheme was an early supporter of carers and its continuous funding for 25 years has been fundamental to unpaid carers’ lives,” says Svetlana Kirov, Director of Fundraising at Carers Trust. “We’re proud to have had them by our side for so long, and this has given our frontline partners like Carers Plus Yorkshire continuity to ensure the provision of essential items and respite breaks to unpaid carers in Scarborough and Ryedale.
“We know that green space is so important for wellbeing and stress relief. Unpaid carers often work long hours, and lockdown life is normal life for many - the programme of free carer visits to National Garden Scheme gardens will be an extra, invaluable benefit to so many.”
“The importance of gardens for our health and wellbeing has long been at the heart of the National Garden Scheme’s ethos,” says George Plumptre, Chief Executive of the National Garden Scheme. “The recent lockdown restrictions highlighted the importance of green spaces and gardens for us all and we’re delighted to be able to offer respite to unpaid carers through visits to our gardens hosted by our ever-generous garden owners.”