Mary and Gwen have been volunteering at Furzey Gardens for over 10 years, spending the majority of their time volunteering in the Cottage Garden, they are also the faces behind Furzey’s much loved Cottage Garden scarecrow!
Shortly after retiring, Mary heard Furzey Gardens were to start taking volunteers. She went along to the open day and has been volunteering ever since – over 10 years ago now! Mary says, ‘I always enjoy the company and friendship of a great community of volunteers, staff and those who are supported by the Trust. It’s always lovely when the visitors come and say how much they have enjoyed their visit to this special place.’
Mary was also a volunteer when in 2012, Chris Beardshaw designed a garden for the Chelsea Flower Show. The project involved the whole Furzey team to show what people with learning disabilities can achieve with appropriate support and ambition. Fondly remembering that experience, Mary says, ‘It was wonderful and I never dreamed that I would have the opportunity of contributing in a very small way to the making of a gold medal winning Chelsea garden!’
Gwen joined the gardening team just after that historic win and like Mary, has been volunteering ever since. All these years later she still looks forward to going to Furzey to volunteer and enjoys helping in such a wonderful garden where she has also made some lovely friends.
Both Mary and Gwen spend the majority of their time volunteering in the Cottage Garden, located next to Furzey’s main entrance. Working as part of a happy team of fellow volunteers, by each summer the Cottage Garden boasts the most fabulous display of wild flowers and stunning colours. They are also the faces behind Furzey’s much loved Cottage Garden scarecrow! Carefully designed and made each spring, the cottage scarecrow has now become a firm favourite with our visitors who like to guess what the theme may be. In the year of the King’s coronation however, this year’s scarecrow certainly needs no introduction!
If you’d like to find out more about our volunteering opportunities, visit our volunteering page.
