National Garden Scheme Raises Hundreds Of Pounds For Charity

A COUPLE from Aldreth have raised hundreds of pounds for charity after opening their garden to the public last weekend. Keen horticulturists Mark and Sian Hugo, raised more than �500 for the National Garden Scheme (NGS) charity by inviting people to enjoy

A COUPLE from Aldreth have raised hundreds of pounds for charity after opening their garden to the public last weekend.

Keen horticulturists Mark and Sian Hugo, raised more than �500 for the National Garden Scheme (NGS) charity by inviting people to enjoy their traditional one-acre cottage garden, complete with free range chickens and ducks.

Mrs Hugo said: "We held a similar event back in May which was quite a wet day and quite a lot of people turned up so we weren't surprised to see a lot of people coming to see the garden as it was such nice weather this time around.

"People think a garden of this size takes quite a lot of work but ours is quite a mature garden so it takes less work than you might think."

Thanks to the success of the event, the husband and wife team, who run a fair-trade shop with the garden, are planning to open their doors to the public on a monthly basis.

INFO: visit www.artes-mundi.co.uk or www.ngs.org.uk for more details.

Pam Bullivant, on behalf of NGS, said a record �3,000 was raised this year.

"This will help support a number of charities, including Macmillan Nurses, Marie Curie and Crossroads," she said.

Aldreth couple Mark and Sian Hugo, who raised hundreds of pounds for charity. HD0609 Photo: HELEN DRAKE