National Garden Scheme: Visit Highdown Gardens, Worthing

On 15th February (10am-4.30pm) and Thursday 2nd May 2024 (10am-8pm) Highdown Gardens, Worthing are opening in aid of The National Garden Scheme. Admission is by donation. Founded in 1927 by the Queen’s Nursing Institute to raise funds for community nursing means that gardens, health and community are at the heart of what we do at the National Garden Scheme. Every ticket bought, every garden visited, and every cake and cup of tea savoured translates into millions of pounds in donations not only to some of the UK’s best loved nursing and health charities but to garden charities and community projects too. In 2023 we made donations of £3,403,960. Beneficiaries include Marie Curie, Macmillan Cancer Support and Parkinson’s UK. For more information on the work of the National Garden Scheme, to find other gardens open in the area or to enquire about how to open your own garden visit https://ngs.org.uk

Highdown Gardens were created by Sir Frederick Stern. The 8½ acres of stunning informal gardens on Sussex chalk downland are home to rare plants and trees, many grown from seed collected by Wilson, Farrer and Kingdon-Ward. A fully equipped glasshouse enables the propagation of this National Plant Collection. A visitor centre shares stories of the plants and people behind the gardens. A new accessible path leads to a sensory garden with a secret sea view.