Wow! What a fabulous day we had for Open Gardens this year – considering the dreichness of Saturday – the weather gods smiled upon us on Sunday.
 
Thanks to each and every one of the gardens for their hard work in the parks, in their own gardens and in encouraging friends, families and those from further afield to come along and take part in the Friends of Castle Parks Open Gardens. Six years in it is a firm favourite in the Berwick events calendar.
 
I’ve heard reports of a wide range of people doing our trail – from locals to tourists and some who came from further afield specially for the event. As ever, it was a day for socialising, knowledge-sharing and for sheer enjoyment of the ingenuity and effort of all the gardeners involved. And, of course, a day to raise funds to support the upkeep and beautifying of Castle Vale, Coronation and Flagstaff Parks here in Berwick.
 
Thanks also to Peter Bistram who worked so hard to make sure the whole event came together and that we were all furnished with the right information at the right time – it’s no mean feat to pull this event off. That’s been particularly true this year with the continuing uncertainty around coronavirus. That was underscored for me when my husband and I received positive Covid-19 test results on Sunday morning. I am so sorry that because of this we could not open our garden or celebrate all your hard work in person at our garden gathering after the event. We will reconvene and celebrate together in due course.
 
But, I hear you cry, how much money did we raise? Well, with some money still to come I can announce that between us we have raised the grand total of £1,500 to support our parks. Wonderful! Yes, despite all of the uncertainty and the corresponding late date of our event this year, we sold over 260 tickets.
 
Jackie Kaines Lang
Chair, Friends of Castle Parks Berwick