Scotland’s Gardens has been supporting QNIS since its inception through the generosity of garden owners opening their beautiful and unusual gardens all over Scotland. For the next three years, the money raised for QNIS has enabled us to provide a development programme to support the reintroduction of the Queen’s Nurse title.
In 1931, Scotland’s Gardens was established with the sole aim of raising money for the Queen’s Nurses of Scotland. It would do so by asking people to open their gardens to the public in return for a ‘voluntary contribution’. Initially, there were over 500 private gardens involved in the scheme.
We are no longer the sole recipient of the Scotland’s Garden’s donations. Since 1961, each individual garden owner has had the option to allocate 40% of the donations they receive to a charity of their choice. The remaining net income is split between the four beneficiary charities: QNIS, Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres, The Garden’s Fund of the National Trust for Scotland, and Perennial.
Each year there are around 400 gardens open to the public across Scotland, from Dumfries to Shetland, from Stornoway to Coldstream, and everywhere in-between.
Scotland’s Gardens depends on the generosity of garden owners to open their gardens and the support of an army of volunteers. If you would be willing to support an open garden near you by serving teas or selling plants then please get in touch. To find more information about open gardens in your local area, or to open your garden to the public, please visit the Scotland’s Gardens website.
