Green thumbed gardeners and allotmenteers will be excited to know that Stony Open Gardens has gone virtual this year, to help raise much-needed funds for Willen Hospice.
Last year the event, which usually sees hundreds of people visit some of the town’s best gardens, raised a phenomenal £15,500 for the Hospice. Knowing that it could not run as it normally would this year, the volunteer organisers decided to open virtual tours of the gardens instead, with donations to the Hospice welcomed in return.
Videographer, Darren McNicol from Oxfordshire based DEBTV, volunteered his time and skills to make the virtual Open Gardens possible. He filmed 10 gardens, two allotments, and the tranquil North End Pond in Stony Stratford. The videos take viewers slowly through each garden and allotment, pausing at beautiful plants, close-ups of blooming flowers and ripening vegetables, and panning across lush lawns and stunning landscaping. Darren used nature as the soundtrack for the videos, recording twittering birds and buzzing bees to create a serene atmosphere as though you are actually in the gardens.
Once the videos were completed, Ian and Lucy Swanston, of local creative group Nutshell Creatives stepped in, free of charge, to help set up a dedicated website that could showcase the garden videos. They re-built the existing website from scratch, and created a stylish, modern site that is easy to use.
Mason Edwards, Stony Open Gardens volunteer, said: “This has been challenging project to set up, and we could not have managed it without the tremendous amount of work that Darren, Ian and Lucy put in. Little by little the site is bringing in funds to help Willen Hospice during this crisis.
“Going ‘virtual’ this year has been a learning curve, but also a good opportunity to try something new. So many people have written such appreciative comments about the virtual tours, that we may even do it again next year as an add-on to our conventional Open Gardens.”
Nikki Poole, Community Fundraising Manager, said: “We were so pleased when the amazing volunteers from Stony Open Gardens decided to adapt this year’s event rather than cancel it. We are facing a huge loss in income by not being able to do our usual fundraising, so we really needed their support at this time.
“Darren did an excellent job with the virtual tours, and Ian and Lucy were fantastic with the website. We have had great feedback from people who have seen the videos, and we have already received some very generous donations. We know gardening has become a popular hobby for many during lockdown, so I hope they’ll be able to get ideas and inspiration from the Stony Virtual Open Gardens.”
To watch the virtual tours visit http://stonyopengardens.info/
