The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) are offering low-income households £1 entry to its gardens in its Access for All scheme.
The new scheme will enable thousands of families and individuals from low-income households, who are less likely to have access to a garden at home, to benefit from visiting an RHS Garden.
The Access for All scheme will afford visitors in receipt of Universal or Pension Credit the opportunity to access all RHS Gardens for a reduced ticket price of just £1, and will run all year round. Access for All will make RHS Bridgewater, RHS Harlow Carr, RHS Hyde Hall, RHS Rosemoor and RHS Wisley accessible to a wider and more diverse audience and builds on existing offers whereby free entry to gardens is granted to a number of groups. These include carers with a disabled visitor, school children on guided and self-guided school visits, and Under 5s, affiliated horticultural societies and community groups supported by the RHS Community Outreach programme. The RHS has stated that they recognise that entry fees are just one of the financial barriers that might prevent people from visiting its gardens, and to that end, they are also investing in sustainable and affordable public transport options across all five sites to enable even more people to visit. The popular RHS Wisley shuttle bus, which runs between the garden and Woking Station, costing just £2 each way, has returned, and the RHS Bridgewater’s shuttle bus (which stops at Manchester Piccadilly Station, Salford Crescent, and Walkden Station, and also costs £2 each way) is also now available again for visitor use. All visitors wishing to take advantage of the Access for All scheme must provide proof that they are in receipt of Universal or Pension credit. This can be in the form of a paper or electronic letter and can be shown when purchasing tickets.
The RHS has five gardens:
RHS Garden Bridgewater, Occupation Lane, off Leigh Road, Worsley, Salford M28 2LJ
0161 503 6100 www.rhs.org.uk/bridgewater
RHS Garden Harlow Carr, Crag Lane, Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG3 1QB
01423 565418 www.rhs.org.uk/harlowcarr
RHS Garden Hyde Hall, Creephedge Lane, Chelmsford, Essex CM3 8ET
01245 402019 www.rhs.org.uk/hydehall
RHS Garden Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH
01805 624067 www.rhs.org.uk/rosemoor
RHS Garden Wisley, Wisley Lane, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB
01483 224234 www.rhs.org.uk/wisley
About the RHS
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) was founded in 1804 and is the UK’s largest gardening charity.
The RHS vision is to enrich everyone’s life through plants and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place via its inspirational gardens and shows, science research and advisory, extensive library collections and far-reaching education and community programmes. With over 600,000 members, the RHS also shares its horticultural knowledge and expertise with millions of people every year through its website and publications.
In 2021, the RHS launched its Sustainability Strategy, committing to be net positive for nature and people by 2030. The supporting RHS Planet-Friendly Gardening Campaign will continue to harness the power of the UK’s 30 million gardeners to help tackle the climate and biodiversity crisis.
The RHS is solely funded by our members, visitors and supporters.
For more information, visit www.rhs.org.uk if you want to join the RHS as a paid member; all the information on rates and how to pay can be found HERE