The team at Bader College work with various local charities to support their work in a number of ways. In 2021 we lit up the Castle in red in support of St. Wilfrid's hospice’s 40th Ruby Anniversary and raised hundreds of pounds in doing so. In 2022, we hosted a midnight walk in support of Chestnut Tree Hospice and for 2023 we have chosen Rother Voluntary Action as our chosen charity for the first term.
Chestnut Tree House Children's Hospice
After over two years in the making (and with several defferals due to Covid) in May 2022 we hosted the inaugural Castle Night Trek, organised by . And what a night it was! Around 600 participants took part in a 10km walk around our Estate and over some particularly tricky terrain, especially in the pitch black.
An awful lot of planning had gone into the event by the Hospice’s event team to ensure the health and safety of everyone taking part and we are pleased to report that it went without a hitch. After a warm up to music, provided by local radio station Hailsham FM, the trekkers set off wearing headtorches and a multitude of glow in the dark paraphernalia! It was quite a sight to behold.
On their return they were greeted with a spectacular light display across the Castle and a glass of fizz to celebrate their achievements. The team from the Hospice were thrilled with the event and the feedback from participants has been great!
A massive thanks go to the Operations Team for their hard work in the run up to this vitally important community event which saw some of the team finishing work at gone 1am!
We’re very pleased to say that we are already in discussions with the team from Chestnut Tree about the event returning next year, so stand by your beds, or more accurately walking boots, for more news.
The National Garden Scheme
Herstmonceux Castle’s Estate regularly opens its gates in support of the (National Garden Scheme). This national charity raises vital funds for nursing and health charities in the UK. It is the largest single funder to for example, a registered charitable organisation in the UK which provides care and support to people with terminal illnesses and their families. The NGS has donated the charity an incredible £10 million pounds over 25 years.
The National Garden Scheme raises these impressive amounts of money for nursing and health charities through admissions, teas and cake. There are over 3,600 private gardens and allotments open for the scheme, and we’re proud to say that Herstmonceux Castle was one of the very first on the books way back in 1927 when the NGS was founded.
We have rather beautiful gardens after all, and we don’t do too badly on the tea and cake front either! We are only too happy to make our visitor experience on the Estate all about the NGS from time to time and proudly donate our gate takings on these day to them.
Pictured below, you can see an old record of gate receipts taken on behalf of NGS in the 1920's and 30's that we managed to find in the Castle archives.
In May 2022 we were presented with a special award to recognise our long-standing support for the National Garden Scheme. The award, a rather fine gardening fork, was presented on behalf of NGS by Irene Eltringham-Willson, who it’s fair to say knows a thing or two about beautiful gardens herself, because she the owner of .
Pictured below left to right: Julie, Guy, Caroline, Dylan and Fiona accept the award on behalf of the Estate from Irene.
