Open garden weekend at Dorset care home raises £600 for NGS charities
The chance to explore the beauty of a carefully tended garden at one of our Dorset care homes has raised more than £600 for nursing and health charities.
Sixty-four community visitors spent time enjoying the grounds of Brook View in West Moors when it opened to the public over a Saturday and Sunday under the National Garden Scheme (NGS).
The weekend marked the latest in a series of open garden events at Colten Care homes this summer.
Brook View resident Sylvia Paddy, who attended on the Saturday, said: “The garden was proudly on display, the weather was lovely, the sun was shining and the day was just perfect.”
On view were a range of colourful flower beds and borders, many tended by residents themselves with help and direction from Colten Care’s gardening team, who were on hand to answer any questions.
Features included a pond, games lawn and greenhouse, and there was a plant stall, raffle and NGS garden quiz.
And a tempting array of cakes specially baked by Brook View Chef Isabella Corbo were laid out for everyone to sample.
The open weekend came just a few weeks after a separate community get-together in the garden, held to celebrate Brook View’s 30th anniversary.
Home Manager Abhishek Bagchi said: “It was a joy to welcome so many friends and new faces alike once again.
“Just like our recent anniversary event, the NGS open weekend was a great outdoor experience filled with laughter and community spirit.
“At the same time, we’re thrilled to have raised a total of £605 for NGS charities.”
Brook View’s NGS weekend followed our New Milton care home Kingfishers, held in June.A further Colten Care home, Woodpeckers in Brockenhurst, will open its garden on 30 and 31 August 2025.
On view there will be dahlias, crocosmias and rudbeckias, a courtyard, a bug house, a wooden chainsaw sculpture and a small orchard and woodland with views through to neighbouring New Forest fields.
For more information on NGS days at Colten Care, visit www.findagarden.ngs.org.uk.