The National Gardens Scheme Elspeth Thompson Bursary

The National Gardens Scheme (NGS) offers a bursary in memory of Elspeth Thompson who died in 2010. The bursary is administered by the RHS.

Elspeth Thompson was an enthusiastic supporter of the National Gardens Scheme, and wrote a much loved ‘Urban Gardener’ column in the Sunday Telegraph. Elspeth’s husband Frank commented ‘She had a knack of seeing and creating beauty in unlikely places and was enthusiastic about those who gardened for the benefit of others’. The NGS bursary is intended to support those individuals or community projects that capture this spirit.

An annual bursary fund is available to provide financial assistance to amateur gardeners, either individuals or community groups, to enable them to create a garden or horticultural based project for the benefit of the community, or to enable them to acquire horticultural knowledge and skills and to develop and share their love of gardening.

No fixed amount is set, and more than one bursary may be awarded in a particular year. It is envisaged that the maximum amount awarded would not normally exceed £5,000, but smaller project proposals are equally welcome.

Applications are considered annually in February, and the closing date for 2013 applications has now passed. 

The first awards made in 2012 from the Elspeth Thompson National Gardens Scheme Bursary Fund have been awarded to the following:

Fernhurst Road Island, Middlesex: A campaign to regenerate a road island back to a rose garden for use by the community

Gardener’s Paradise, Cardiff: A voluntary project established by tenants living in supported accommodation for vulnerable and socially excluded adults to regenerate a communal garden

Greening Clanfield Group, Hampshire: Creating a small community orchard to encourage residents of Clanfield to live a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle

Llamau, Caerphilly: Providing gardening equipment to the charity Llamau to enable them to complete a garden to be opened to the community at a housing project for vulnerable and/or homeless young people

Warkworth in Bloom, Northumberland: The redevelopment of the village communal Millennium Garden to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and to develop community involvement and commitment

Further information about Elspeth Thompson and The National Gardens Scheme is available at www.rhs.org.uk\courses\bursaries