The third year of Rye Open Gardens came to a close today, with many “Goodbyes”, “Thanks for coming” and “What shall we do on Monday mornings now!?”
My small and precipitous garden happened to be last of the 22 this summer, and with about 50 good folk of Rye in it enjoying eating cake and drinking tea or coffee, it did look small! And just about the last flower left on the planet was a thicket of sweet peas, unpicked to give a show today.
We managed with the help of a very jolly band of chums, to raise just over £5,000 donated in the following fashion:
- The lovely St. Mary’s Church in Rye – £1,000.00
- Rye Memorial Hospital – £950.00
- The food bank – £1,525.00
- The community bus – £1,228.13
- The swimming pool appeal (late decision) – £296.87
My opinion is that fundraising, when it is fun, is almost no sweat for anyone, so we are sad that the end of the season is upon us. But looking at the projected forecast we may have just got the weather bang right.
So this is really to thank all our kind openers; we loved your gardens large and small, and the scheme really wouldn’t work that well without you. And a big thank you to my band of chums who make it all such fun as mentioned before, but most of all thank you to our loyal visitors who stump round Rye and fork out the princely sum of £4 for coffee, tea, cake, garden gazing, and joy of joys, a very high chance of winning a spectacular raffle prize. These range from a delicious bottle of booze to a new vacuum cleaner belt circa 1972, or a gorgeous plant in a pot to an elderly book on transvestism.
And a further joy is that it is only from 11 to noon so you don’t miss anyone. In fact it is the perfectly appointed 60 minute to enjoy friends and a spot of sun.
Queries and next year’s list from Colkins@btinternet.com 07850 219956.
Image Credits: Col Everett .