2 Western Lane garden, phorographed by Anne Brinhak

Local Volunteering

The National Gardens Scheme
is run by volunteers based in
each county who organise and
support our garden openings.



Over 350 people form the backbone of the NGS sharing the fun but also the hard work involved in organising 3,500 gardens to open over 10,000 times between them. In each area we look for people to fill three key roles 

A team co-ordinator and assistants who organise openings and provide help and advice to garden owners

Press and Publicity officers who help promote garden openings through local press and media

Treasurers to keep account of income and expenditure and organise banking. 

In areas with a larger number of gardens we may need more than one person in each role.

Help and training is given so that our new volunteers can make a start. Although knowledge of gardens is always helpful, the main requirement is for good organisational skills and for people who enjoy working as part of a team. Normally you will need access to a car and we encourage volunteers to use email and internet to help with their work.

Obviously the busiest time of the year for our volunteers is in the spring and summer, and we are always grateful for more occasional help. In particular we often need extra help in promoting the NGS at local shows and events, working with new Yellow Book gardens as they prepare for and run their first opening, finding new gardens and leaflet distribution to libraries, garden centres and tourist information centres.

Click here for local contacts
Click here for more information